Reviewing Macerich (NYSE:MAC) and CTO Realty Growth (NYSE:CTO)

CTO Realty Growth (NYSE:CTO) and Macerich (NYSE:MAC) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

67.2% of CTO Realty Growth shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of Macerich shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.5% of CTO Realty Growth shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Macerich shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

CTO Realty Growth has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Macerich has a beta of 2.06, meaning that its share price is 106% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

CTO Realty Growth pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.1%. Macerich pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. CTO Realty Growth pays out 111.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Macerich pays out -104.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for CTO Realty Growth and Macerich, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CTO Realty Growth	0	1	5	1	3.00
Macerich	1	5	9	1	2.62

CTO Realty Growth presently has a consensus price target of $24.50, suggesting a potential upside of 14.17%. Macerich has a consensus price target of $26.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.68%. Given CTO Realty Growth’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe CTO Realty Growth is more favorable than Macerich.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares CTO Realty Growth and Macerich”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CTO Realty Growth	$149.54 million	5.38	$10.09 million	$1.36	15.78
Macerich	$1.01 billion	6.51	-$197.15 million	($0.65)	-35.82

CTO Realty Growth has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Macerich. Macerich is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CTO Realty Growth, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares CTO Realty Growth and Macerich’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CTO Realty Growth	32.63%	8.90%	4.05%
Macerich	-16.85%	-6.26%	-1.97%

Summary

CTO Realty Growth beats Macerich on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CTO Realty Growth

CTO Realty Growth, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns and operates a portfolio of high-quality, retail-based properties located primarily in higher growth markets in the United States. CTO also externally manages and owns a meaningful interest in Alpine Income Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: PINE), a publicly traded net lease REIT.

About Macerich

Macerich is a fully integrated, self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). As a leading owner, operator and developer of high-quality retail real estate in densely populated and attractive U.S. markets, Macerich’s portfolio is concentrated in California, the Pacific Northwest, Phoenix/Scottsdale, and the Metro New York to Washington, D.C. corridor. Developing and managing properties that serve as community cornerstones, Macerich currently owns 47 million square feet of real estate consisting primarily of interests in 44 regional town centers. Macerich is firmly dedicated to advancing environmental goals, social good and sound corporate governance. A recognized leader in sustainability, Macerich has achieved a #1 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) ranking for the North American retail sector for nine consecutive years (2015-2023).