Contrasting Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) & UDR (NYSE:UDR)

Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) and UDR (NYSE:UDR) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Safehold and UDR’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Safehold	32.08%	4.79%	1.66%
UDR	7.68%	3.57%	1.19%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Safehold and UDR”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Safehold	$376.84 million	3.56	-$54.97 million	$1.70	11.06
UDR	$1.66 billion	8.67	$444.35 million	$0.37	118.00

UDR has higher revenue and earnings than Safehold. Safehold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than UDR, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Safehold pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. UDR pays an annual dividend of $1.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Safehold pays out 41.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. UDR pays out 459.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. UDR has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. UDR is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Safehold and UDR, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Safehold	0	4	5	0	2.56
UDR	1	7	8	0	2.44

Safehold presently has a consensus target price of $28.22, indicating a potential upside of 50.12%. UDR has a consensus target price of $46.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.36%. Given Safehold’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Safehold is more favorable than UDR.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

70.4% of Safehold shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.8% of UDR shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of Safehold shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of UDR shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Safehold has a beta of 1.66, suggesting that its stock price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, UDR has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

UDR beats Safehold on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Safehold

Safehold Inc. (NYSE: SAFE) is revolutionizing real estate ownership by providing a new and better way for owners to unlock the value of the land beneath their buildings. Having created the modern ground lease industry in 2017, Safehold continues to help owners of high quality multifamily, office, industrial, hospitality, student housing, life science and mixed-use properties generate higher returns with less risk. The Company, which is taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT), seeks to deliver safe, growing income and long-term capital appreciation to its shareholders.

About UDR

UDR, Inc. (NYSE: UDR), an S&P 500 company, is a leading multifamily real estate investment trust with a demonstrated performance history of delivering superior and dependable returns by successfully managing, buying, selling, developing and redeveloping attractive real estate communities in targeted U.S. markets. As of December 31, 2023, UDR owned or had an ownership position in 60,336 apartment homes including 359 homes under development. For over 51 years, UDR has delivered long-term value to shareholders, the best standard of service to Residents and the highest quality experience for Associates.