Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) & Regency Centers (NASDAQ:REG) Critical Review

Regency Centers (NASDAQ:REG) and Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

96.1% of Regency Centers shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.9% of Equinix shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Regency Centers shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Equinix shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Regency Centers and Equinix, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Regency Centers	1	6	5	1	2.46
Equinix	0	6	18	4	2.93

Regency Centers currently has a consensus target price of $78.40, indicating a potential upside of 12.71%. Equinix has a consensus target price of $953.90, indicating a potential upside of 25.92%. Given Equinix’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Equinix is more favorable than Regency Centers.

Profitability

This table compares Regency Centers and Equinix’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Regency Centers	27.04%	6.14%	3.24%
Equinix	11.82%	7.70%	2.89%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Regency Centers and Equinix”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Regency Centers	$1.45 billion	8.75	$400.39 million	$2.17	32.06
Equinix	$8.75 billion	8.50	$815.00 million	$10.92	69.37

Equinix has higher revenue and earnings than Regency Centers. Regency Centers is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Equinix, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Regency Centers pays an annual dividend of $3.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Equinix pays an annual dividend of $18.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Regency Centers pays out 139.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Equinix pays out 171.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Regency Centers has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Equinix has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years. Regency Centers is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

Regency Centers has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equinix has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Equinix beats Regency Centers on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Regency Centers

Regency Centers is a preeminent national owner, operator, and developer of shopping centers located in suburban trade areas with compelling demographics. Our portfolio includes thriving properties merchandised with highly productive grocers, restaurants, service providers, and best-in-class retailers that connect to their neighborhoods, communities, and customers. Operating as a fully integrated real estate company, Regency Centers is a qualified real estate investment trust (REIT) that is self-administered, self-managed, and an S&P 500 Index member.

About Equinix

Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world's digital infrastructure company . Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.