Analyzing Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) and Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG)

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) and Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Simon Property Group and Equinix, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Simon Property Group	0	9	4	0	2.31
Equinix	0	4	19	5	3.04

Simon Property Group currently has a consensus target price of $186.46, suggesting a potential upside of 0.63%. Equinix has a consensus target price of $962.52, suggesting a potential upside of 21.79%. Given Equinix’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Equinix is more favorable than Simon Property Group.

Dividends

Simon Property Group pays an annual dividend of $8.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Equinix pays an annual dividend of $18.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Simon Property Group pays out 132.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Equinix pays out 183.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Simon Property Group has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Equinix has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years. Simon Property Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Simon Property Group and Equinix”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Simon Property Group	$5.96 billion	10.14	$2.37 billion	$6.47	28.64
Equinix	$8.94 billion	8.65	$815.00 million	$10.21	77.41

Simon Property Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Equinix. Simon Property Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Equinix, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Simon Property Group has a beta of 1.5, suggesting that its stock price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equinix has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Simon Property Group and Equinix’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Simon Property Group	36.78%	72.38%	6.75%
Equinix	11.11%	7.22%	2.73%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.0% of Simon Property Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.9% of Equinix shares are held by institutional investors. 8.7% of Simon Property Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Equinix shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

About Simon Property Group

Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). Simon Property Group, L.P., or the Operating Partnership, is our majority-owned partnership subsidiary that owns all of our real estate properties and other assets. In this package, the terms Simon, we, our, or the Company refer to Simon Property Group, Inc., the Operating Partnership, and its subsidiaries. We own, develop and manage premier shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use destinations, which consist primarily of malls, Premium Outlets, The Mills, and International Properties. At June 30, 2024, we owned or had an interest in 230 properties comprising 183 million square feet in North America, Asia and Europe. We also owned an 84% interest in The Taubman Realty Group, or TRG, which owns 22 regional, super-regional, and outlet malls in the U.S. and Asia. Additionally, at June 30, 2024, we had a 22.4% ownership interest in Klépierre, a publicly traded, Paris-based real estate company, which owns shopping centers in 14 European countries.

About Equinix

Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world's digital infrastructure company . Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.