Reviewing Clipper Realty (NYSE:CLPR) & JBG SMITH Properties (NYSE:JBGS)

Clipper Realty (NYSE:CLPR) and JBG SMITH Properties (NYSE:JBGS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

37.6% of Clipper Realty shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.5% of JBG SMITH Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 53.0% of Clipper Realty shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.9% of JBG SMITH Properties shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Clipper Realty and JBG SMITH Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Clipper Realty	-7.10%	N/A	-0.87%
JBG SMITH Properties	-22.16%	-9.32%	-2.53%

Dividends

Clipper Realty pays an annual dividend of $0.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.1%. JBG SMITH Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Clipper Realty pays out -46.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. JBG SMITH Properties pays out -37.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Clipper Realty is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Clipper Realty and JBG SMITH Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Clipper Realty	0	1	0	0	2.00
JBG SMITH Properties	2	0	0	0	1.00

JBG SMITH Properties has a consensus target price of $18.50, indicating a potential upside of 30.24%. Given JBG SMITH Properties’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe JBG SMITH Properties is more favorable than Clipper Realty.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Clipper Realty and JBG SMITH Properties”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Clipper Realty	$153.20 million	0.31	-$19.90 million	($0.81)	-3.59
JBG SMITH Properties	$498.60 million	1.66	-$139.06 million	($1.87)	-7.60

Clipper Realty has higher earnings, but lower revenue than JBG SMITH Properties. JBG SMITH Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Clipper Realty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Clipper Realty has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, JBG SMITH Properties has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Clipper Realty beats JBG SMITH Properties on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Clipper Realty

Clipper Realty Inc. (NYSE: CLPR) is a self-administered and self-managed real estate company that acquires, owns, manages, operates, and repositions multifamily residential and commercial properties in the New York metropolitan area, with a portfolio in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

About JBG SMITH Properties

JBG SMITH Properties is a real estate investment trust, which engages in owning, operating, investing in, and developing a portfolio of mixed-use properties. It operates through the following segments: Multifamily, Commercial, and Other. The Multifamily segment refers to the commercial buildings with public areas, retail spaces, and walkable streets. The Commercial segment rents to federal government tenants. The Other segment relates to development assets, corporate entities, land assets for which are the ground lessor and the elimination of inter-segment activity. The company was founded on October 27, 2016, and is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.