Reviewing Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX) and SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:CWYUF)

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:CWYUF) and Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and risk.

Volatility & Risk

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brixmor Property Group has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust and Brixmor Property Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust	46.42%	6.72%	3.51%
Brixmor Property Group	31.99%	14.85%	4.95%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust and Brixmor Property Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust	0	1	1	1	3.00
Brixmor Property Group	0	2	10	2	3.00

Brixmor Property Group has a consensus target price of $33.25, suggesting a potential upside of 7.39%. Given Brixmor Property Group’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Brixmor Property Group is more favorable than SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust and Brixmor Property Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust	$654.07 million	5.84	$180.22 million	$1.78	12.03
Brixmor Property Group	$1.37 billion	6.93	$386.23 million	$1.44	21.50

Brixmor Property Group has higher revenue and earnings than SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Brixmor Property Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.4% of Brixmor Property Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 20.9% of SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Brixmor Property Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. Brixmor Property Group pays an annual dividend of $1.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust pays out 73.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Brixmor Property Group pays out 85.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Brixmor Property Group has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Brixmor Property Group beats SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust

SmartCentres is one of Canada’s largest fully integrated REITs, with a best-in-class and growing mixed-use portfolio featuring 191 strategically located properties in communities across the country. SmartCentres has approximately $12.0 billion in assets and owns 35.0 million square feet of income producing value-oriented retail and first-class office properties with 98.5% in place and committed occupancy, on 3,500 acres of owned land across Canada.

About Brixmor Property Group

Brixmor Property Group, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust, which engages in owning and operating a portfolio of grocery anchored community and neighborhood shopping centers. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, NY.