Howard Hughes (NYSE:HHH) & J. W. Mays (NASDAQ:MAYS) Head to Head Survey

Howard Hughes (NYSE:HHH) and J. W. Mays (NASDAQ:MAYS) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.8% of Howard Hughes shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.2% of J. W. Mays shares are owned by institutional investors. 47.7% of Howard Hughes shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 40.8% of J. W. Mays shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Howard Hughes and J. W. Mays, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Howard Hughes	0	2	1	1	2.75
J. W. Mays	1	0	0	0	1.00

Howard Hughes currently has a consensus price target of $81.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.49%. Given Howard Hughes’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Howard Hughes is more favorable than J. W. Mays.

Profitability

This table compares Howard Hughes and J. W. Mays’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Howard Hughes	12.31%	7.51%	2.41%
J. W. Mays	-5.37%	-2.21%	-1.30%

Risk & Volatility

Howard Hughes has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, J. W. Mays has a beta of 0.2, indicating that its share price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Howard Hughes and J. W. Mays”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Howard Hughes	$1.47 billion	2.82	$123.90 million	$4.94	14.08
J. W. Mays	$22.47 million	3.56	-$140,000.00	($0.58)	-68.27

Howard Hughes has higher revenue and earnings than J. W. Mays. J. W. Mays is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Howard Hughes, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Howard Hughes beats J. W. Mays on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Howard Hughes

Howard Hughes Holdings Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate development company in the United States. It operates in four segments: Operating Assets; Master Planned Communities (MPCs); Seaport; and Strategic Developments. The Operating Assets segment consists of developed or acquired retail, office, and multi-family properties along with other retail investments. Its MPCs segment develops, sells, and leases residential and commercial land designated for long-term community development projects in and around Las Vegas, Nevada; Houston, Texas; and Phoenix, Arizona. The Seaport segment is involved in the landlord operations, managed businesses, and events and sponsorships services of its restaurant, retail, and entertain properties in Pier 17, New York City; Historic Area/Uplands; and Tin Building, as well as in 250 Water Street and in the Jean-Georges restaurants. The Strategic Development segment develops and redevelops residential condominiums and commercial properties. It serves homebuilders. Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.

About J. W. Mays

J.W. Mays, Inc. owns, operates, and leases commercial real estate properties in United States. The company's properties are located in Brooklyn, Jamaica, Fishkill, Levittown, and Massapequa of New York; and Circleville of Ohio. The company was founded in 1924 and is based in Brooklyn, New York.