CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP – Get Free Report) and Medalist Diversified REIT (NASDAQ:MDRR – Get Free Report) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
96.6% of CoStar Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 17.4% of Medalist Diversified REIT shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of CoStar Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 77.6% of Medalist Diversified REIT shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares CoStar Group and Medalist Diversified REIT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| CoStar Group | 2.08% | 3.74% | 2.96% |
| Medalist Diversified REIT | 80.24% | -15.18% | -6.46% |
Analyst Ratings
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| CoStar Group | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 2.35 |
| Medalist Diversified REIT | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
CoStar Group presently has a consensus target price of $40.11, suggesting a potential upside of 29.75%. Given CoStar Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe CoStar Group is more favorable than Medalist Diversified REIT.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares CoStar Group and Medalist Diversified REIT”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| CoStar Group | $3.56 billion | 3.52 | $7.00 million | $0.19 | 162.68 |
| Medalist Diversified REIT | $10.40 million | 1.91 | -$2.39 million | $3.83 | 3.19 |
CoStar Group has higher revenue and earnings than Medalist Diversified REIT. Medalist Diversified REIT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CoStar Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
CoStar Group has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Medalist Diversified REIT has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
CoStar Group beats Medalist Diversified REIT on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About CoStar Group
CoStar Group, Inc. provides information, analytics, and online marketplace services to the commercial real estate, hospitality, residential, and related professionals industries in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The company offers CoStar Property that provides inventory of office, industrial, retail, multifamily, hospitality, and student housing properties and land; CoStar Sales, a robust database of comparable commercial real estate sales transactions; CoStar Market Analytics to view and report on aggregated market and submarket trends; and CoStar Tenant, an online business-to-business prospecting and analytical tool that provides tenant information. It also provides Leasing, a tool to capture, manage, and maintain lease data; CoStar Lease Analysis; Public Record, a searchable database of commercially zoned parcels; CoStar Real Estate Manager, a real estate lease administration, portfolio management, and lease accounting compliance software solution; and CoStar Risk Analytics and CoStar Investment. In addition, it offers apartment marketing sites, such as ApartmentFinder.com, ForRent.com, ApartmentHomeLiving.com, WestsideRentals.com, AFTER55.com, CorporateHousing.com, ForRentUniversity.com, Apartamentos.com, and Off Campus Partners; LoopNet Premium Lister; LoopNet Diamond, Platinum, and Gold Ads; LandsofAmerica.com, LandAndFarm.com, and LandWatch.com for rural land for-sale; BizBuySell.com, BizQuest.com, and FindaFranchise.com for operating businesses and franchises for-sale; Ten-X, an online auction platform for commercial real estate; and HomeSnap, an online and mobile software platform, as well as Homes.com, a homes for sale listings site. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Washington, the District of Columbia.
About Medalist Diversified REIT
Medalist Diversified REIT Inc. is a Virginia-based real estate investment trust that specializes in acquiring, owning and managing commercial real estate in the Southeast region of the U.S. The Company's strategy is to focus on commercial real estate which is expected to provide an attractive balance of risk and returns. Medalist utilizes a rigorous, consistent and replicable process for sourcing and conducting due diligence of acquisitions.
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