Financial Analysis: SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust (CWYUF) vs. Its Peers

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:CWYUF) is one of 25 publicly-traded companies in the “REIT – EQTY TRUST – RETAIL” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust to related businesses based on the strength of its dividends, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust	35.62%	4.74%	2.50%
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust Competitors	26.27%	10.68%	3.36%

Risk and Volatility

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust’s peers have a beta of 1.13, indicating that their average share price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust	0	0	0	2	4.00
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust Competitors	337	1952	2105	79	2.43

As a group, “REIT – EQTY TRUST – RETAIL” companies have a potential upside of 12.47%. Given SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust’s peers higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust	$670.29 million	$172.78 million	15.22
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust Competitors	$1.44 billion	$293.45 million	45.66

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.2%. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust pays out 109.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “REIT – EQTY TRUST – RETAIL” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.4% and pay out 163.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

85.3% of shares of all “REIT – EQTY TRUST – RETAIL” companies are held by institutional investors. 20.9% of SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.5% of shares of all “REIT – EQTY TRUST – RETAIL” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust peers beat SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust

SmartCentres is one of Canada’s largest fully integrated REITs, with a best-in-class and growing mixed-use portfolio featuring 191 strategically located properties in communities across the country. SmartCentres has approximately $12.0 billion in assets and owns 35.0 million square feet of income producing value-oriented retail and first-class office properties with 98.5% in place and committed occupancy, on 3,500 acres of owned land across Canada.