Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) versus Realty Income (NYSE:O) Financial Contrast

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) and Realty Income (NYSE:O) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Simon Property Group and Realty Income’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Simon Property Group	35.98%	67.32%	6.56%
Realty Income	18.15%	2.51%	1.42%

Risk & Volatility

Simon Property Group has a beta of 1.47, indicating that its stock price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Realty Income has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Simon Property Group and Realty Income”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Simon Property Group	$5.96 billion	8.59	$2.37 billion	$6.28	25.00
Realty Income	$5.27 billion	9.86	$860.77 million	$1.10	52.32

Simon Property Group has higher revenue and earnings than Realty Income. Simon Property Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Realty Income, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Simon Property Group and Realty Income, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Simon Property Group	0	5	4	0	2.44
Realty Income	0	9	4	0	2.31

Simon Property Group presently has a consensus price target of $179.44, indicating a potential upside of 14.32%. Realty Income has a consensus price target of $61.15, indicating a potential upside of 6.25%. Given Simon Property Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Simon Property Group is more favorable than Realty Income.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.0% of Simon Property Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.8% of Realty Income shares are held by institutional investors. 8.7% of Simon Property Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Realty Income shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Simon Property Group pays an annual dividend of $8.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Realty Income pays an annual dividend of $3.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Simon Property Group pays out 133.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Realty Income pays out 292.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Simon Property Group has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Realty Income has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Summary

Simon Property Group beats Realty Income on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Simon Property Group

Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). Simon Property Group, L.P., or the Operating Partnership, is our majority-owned partnership subsidiary that owns all of our real estate properties and other assets. In this package, the terms Simon, we, our, or the Company refer to Simon Property Group, Inc., the Operating Partnership, and its subsidiaries. We own, develop and manage premier shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use destinations, which consist primarily of malls, Premium Outlets, The Mills, and International Properties. At June 30, 2024, we owned or had an interest in 230 properties comprising 183 million square feet in North America, Asia and Europe. We also owned an 84% interest in The Taubman Realty Group, or TRG, which owns 22 regional, super-regional, and outlet malls in the U.S. and Asia. Additionally, at June 30, 2024, we had a 22.4% ownership interest in Klépierre, a publicly traded, Paris-based real estate company, which owns shopping centers in 14 European countries.

About Realty Income

Realty Income, The Monthly Dividend Company, is an S&P 500 company and member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats index. We invest in people and places to deliver dependable monthly dividends that increase over time. The company is structured as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”), and its monthly dividends are supported by the cash flow from over 15,450 real estate properties (including properties acquired in the Spirit merger in January 2024) primarily owned under long-term net lease agreements with commercial clients. To date, the company has declared 644 consecutive monthly dividends on its shares of common stock throughout its 55-year operating history and increased the dividend 123 times since Realty Income’s public listing in 1994 (NYSE: O).