Financial Contrast: Medalist Diversified REIT (NASDAQ:MDRR) versus Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL)

Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL) and Medalist Diversified REIT (NASDAQ:MDRR) are both real estate companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Jones Lang LaSalle has a beta of 1.3, meaning that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Medalist Diversified REIT has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.8% of Jones Lang LaSalle shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 17.4% of Medalist Diversified REIT shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Jones Lang LaSalle shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 77.6% of Medalist Diversified REIT shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Jones Lang LaSalle and Medalist Diversified REIT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Jones Lang LaSalle	3.64%	13.99%	5.96%
Medalist Diversified REIT	80.24%	-15.18%	-6.46%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Jones Lang LaSalle and Medalist Diversified REIT”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Jones Lang LaSalle	$26.12 billion	0.52	$792.10 million	$20.87	14.29
Medalist Diversified REIT	$10.40 million	1.64	-$2.39 million	$3.83	2.74

Jones Lang LaSalle has higher revenue and earnings than Medalist Diversified REIT. Medalist Diversified REIT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Jones Lang LaSalle, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Jones Lang LaSalle and Medalist Diversified REIT, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Jones Lang LaSalle	0	3	4	1	2.75
Medalist Diversified REIT	0	1	0	0	2.00

Jones Lang LaSalle currently has a consensus price target of $427.60, suggesting a potential upside of 43.40%. Given Jones Lang LaSalle’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Jones Lang LaSalle is more favorable than Medalist Diversified REIT.

Summary

Jones Lang LaSalle beats Medalist Diversified REIT on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated operates as a commercial real estate and investment management company. It engages in the buying, building, occupying, managing, and investing in a commercial, industrial, hotel, residential, and retail properties in Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers a range of real estate services, including agency leasing, tenant representation, property management, advisory, and consulting services; and capital market services, such as equity and debt advisory, loan sales, equity advisory, loan servicing, merger and acquisition, corporate advisory, and investment sales and advisory services. It also provides on-site management services for office, industrial, retail, multifamily residential, and various other properties; integrated facilities management services; designing, building, management, and consulting services to tenants of leased space, owners in self-occupied buildings, and owners of real estate investments; and advisory, consulting, valuation, and energy and sustainability services. In addition, the company offers investment management services to institutional and retail investors, including high-net-worth individuals. It provides its services to real estate owners, occupiers, investors, and developers for various property types, including critical environments and data centers, offices, industrial and warehouses, residential properties, infrastructure projects, retail and shopping malls, logistics, and military housing and transportation centers; and hotels and hospitality, cultural, educational, government, healthcare and laboratory, and sports facilities. The company was formerly known as LaSalle Partners Incorporated and changed its name to Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated in March 1999. Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

About Medalist Diversified REIT

Medalist Diversified REIT Inc. is a Virginia-based real estate investment trust that specializes in acquiring, owning and managing commercial real estate in the Southeast region of the U.S. The Company's strategy is to focus on commercial real estate which is expected to provide an attractive balance of risk and returns. Medalist utilizes a rigorous, consistent and replicable process for sourcing and conducting due diligence of acquisitions.