Critical Review: CTO Realty Growth (NYSE:CTO) versus Regency Centers (NASDAQ:REG)

Regency Centers (NASDAQ:REG) and CTO Realty Growth (NYSE:CTO) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Regency Centers and CTO Realty Growth’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Regency Centers	34.38%	8.04%	4.26%
CTO Realty Growth	32.63%	8.90%	4.05%

Risk & Volatility

Regency Centers has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CTO Realty Growth has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Regency Centers and CTO Realty Growth, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Regency Centers	0	11	6	2	2.53
CTO Realty Growth	0	1	3	2	3.17

Regency Centers presently has a consensus target price of $83.75, suggesting a potential upside of 4.31%. CTO Realty Growth has a consensus target price of $24.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.30%. Given CTO Realty Growth’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe CTO Realty Growth is more favorable than Regency Centers.

Dividends

Regency Centers pays an annual dividend of $3.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. CTO Realty Growth pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.9%. Regency Centers pays out 102.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. CTO Realty Growth pays out 111.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Regency Centers has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

96.1% of Regency Centers shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.2% of CTO Realty Growth shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Regency Centers shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of CTO Realty Growth shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Regency Centers and CTO Realty Growth”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Regency Centers	$1.55 billion	9.46	$527.46 million	$2.95	27.22
CTO Realty Growth	$149.54 million	5.50	$10.09 million	$1.36	16.15

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

Summary

Regency Centers beats CTO Realty Growth on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About CTO Realty Growth

CTO Realty Growth, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns and operates a portfolio of high-quality, retail-based properties located primarily in higher growth markets in the United States. CTO also externally manages and owns a meaningful interest in Alpine Income Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: PINE), a publicly traded net lease REIT.