Reviewing Regency Centers (NASDAQ:REG) & Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT)

Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) and Regency Centers (NASDAQ:REG) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, risk, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Federal Realty Investment Trust and Regency Centers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Federal Realty Investment Trust	0	6	8	0	2.57
Regency Centers	0	4	8	1	2.77

Federal Realty Investment Trust currently has a consensus target price of $112.07, indicating a potential upside of 17.07%. Regency Centers has a consensus target price of $78.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.18%. Given Federal Realty Investment Trust’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Federal Realty Investment Trust is more favorable than Regency Centers.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.9% of Federal Realty Investment Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of Regency Centers shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Federal Realty Investment Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Regency Centers shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Federal Realty Investment Trust and Regency Centers”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Federal Realty Investment Trust	$1.20 billion	6.83	$295.21 million	$3.49	27.43
Regency Centers	$1.45 billion	8.84	$400.39 million	$2.12	33.39

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

Dividends

Federal Realty Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $4.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Regency Centers pays an annual dividend of $2.82 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Federal Realty Investment Trust pays out 126.1% 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 pays out 133.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Federal Realty Investment Trust has increased its dividend for 58 consecutive years and Regency Centers has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Federal Realty Investment Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

Federal Realty Investment Trust has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Regency Centers has a beta of 1, meaning that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Federal Realty Investment Trust and Regency Centers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Federal Realty Investment Trust	24.77%	9.97%	3.55%
Regency Centers	27.21%	5.98%	3.22%

About Federal Realty Investment Trust

Federal Realty Investment Trust is an equity real estate investment trust, which engages in the provision of ownership, management, and redevelopment of retail and mixed-use properties located primarily in communities where demand exceeds supply in strategically selected metropolitan markets. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in North Bethesda, MD.

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.