Contrasting Site Centers (NYSE:SITC) & American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT)

American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) and Site Centers (NYSE:SITC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

90.4% of American Assets Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.7% of Site Centers shares are held by institutional investors. 36.8% of American Assets Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.1% of Site Centers shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares American Assets Trust and Site Centers”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Assets Trust	$436.20 million	2.75	$71.37 million	$0.91	21.48
Site Centers	$271.09 million	1.28	$531.82 million	$0.56	11.85

Site Centers has lower revenue, but higher earnings than American Assets Trust. Site Centers is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Assets Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

American Assets Trust has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Site Centers has a beta of 1.09, suggesting that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for American Assets Trust and Site Centers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Assets Trust	1	2	0	0	1.67
Site Centers	1	2	1	0	2.00

American Assets Trust presently has a consensus price target of $18.00, indicating a potential downside of 7.90%. Site Centers has a consensus price target of $10.83, indicating a potential upside of 63.28%. Given Site Centers’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Site Centers is more favorable than American Assets Trust.

Profitability

This table compares American Assets Trust and Site Centers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Assets Trust	12.76%	4.96%	1.89%
Site Centers	29.19%	8.21%	4.33%

Summary

Site Centers beats American Assets Trust on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Assets Trust

American Assets Trust, Inc. is a full service, vertically integrated and self-administered real estate investment trust ("REIT"), headquartered in San Diego, California. The company has over 55 years of experience in acquiring, improving, developing and managing premier office, retail, and residential properties throughout the United States in some of the nation's most dynamic, high-barrier-to-entry markets primarily in Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Texas and Hawaii. The company's office portfolio comprises approximately 4.1 million rentable square feet, and its retail portfolio comprises approximately 3.1 million rentable square feet. In addition, the company owns one mixed-use property (including approximately 94,000 rentable square feet of retail space and a 369-room all-suite hotel) and 2,110 multifamily units. In 2011, the company was formed to succeed to the real estate business of American Assets, Inc., a privately held corporation founded in 1967 and, as such, has significant experience, long-standing relationships and extensive knowledge of its core markets, submarkets and asset classes.

About Site Centers

SITE Centers is an owner and manager of open-air shopping centers located in suburban, high household income communities. The Company is a self-administered and self-managed REIT operating as a fully integrated real estate company, and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SITC.