W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC – Get Free Report) and Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
73.7% of W. P. Carey shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 50.0% of Saul Centers shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of W. P. Carey shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 56.6% of Saul Centers shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings for W. P. Carey and Saul Centers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| W. P. Carey | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2.22 |
| Saul Centers | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
Profitability
This table compares W. P. Carey and Saul Centers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| W. P. Carey | 29.11% | 5.37% | 2.61% |
| Saul Centers | 20.84% | 17.16% | 2.72% |
Dividends
W. P. Carey pays an annual dividend of $3.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Saul Centers pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.6%. W. P. Carey pays out 170.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Saul Centers pays out 144.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Saul Centers is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Volatility & Risk
W. P. Carey has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Saul Centers has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares W. P. Carey and Saul Centers”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| W. P. Carey | $1.58 billion | 8.48 | $460.84 million | $2.09 | 29.33 |
| Saul Centers | $268.85 million | 3.21 | $52.69 million | $1.63 | 21.87 |
W. P. Carey has higher revenue and earnings than Saul Centers. Saul Centers is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than W. P. Carey, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
About W. P. Carey
W. P. Carey ranks among the largest net lease REITs with a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality, operationally critical commercial real estate, which includes 1,424 net lease properties covering approximately 173 million square feet and a portfolio of 89 self-storage operating properties as of December 31, 2023. With offices in New York, London, Amsterdam and Dallas, the company remains focused on investing primarily in single-tenant, industrial, warehouse and retail properties located in the U.S. and Northern and Western Europe, under long-term net leases with built-in rent escalations.
About Saul Centers
Saul Centers is a self-managed, self-administered equity REIT headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Saul Centers currently operates and manages a real estate portfolio comprised of 61 properties that includes (a) 57 community and neighborhood Shopping Centers and Mixed-Use properties with approximately 9.8 million square feet of leasable area and (b) four land and development properties. Over 85% of the Company’s property operating income is generated from properties in the metropolitan Washington, DC/Baltimore area.
Receive News & Ratings for W. P. Carey Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for W. P. Carey and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
