Macerich (NYSE:MAC) versus SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:CWYUF) Head-To-Head Review

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:CWYUF) and Macerich (NYSE:MAC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

87.4% of Macerich shares are held by institutional investors. 20.9% of SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Macerich shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.33 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.4%. Macerich pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust pays out 108.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Macerich pays out -88.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Volatility & Risk

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Macerich has a beta of 2.2, suggesting that its share price is 120% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust	38.27%	5.01%	2.62%
Macerich	-19.44%	-7.32%	-2.25%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust and Macerich”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust	$654.07 million	5.67	$180.22 million	$1.23	16.91
Macerich	$1.01 billion	5.47	-$197.15 million	($0.77)	-28.05

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Macerich. Macerich is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust and Macerich, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust	0	2	1	0	2.33
Macerich	3	3	7	0	2.31

Macerich has a consensus target price of $20.77, indicating a potential downside of 3.86%. Given Macerich’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Macerich is more favorable than SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust.

Summary

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust beats Macerich on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Macerich

Macerich is a fully integrated, self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). As a leading owner, operator and developer of high-quality retail real estate in densely populated and attractive U.S. markets, Macerich’s portfolio is concentrated in California, the Pacific Northwest, Phoenix/Scottsdale, and the Metro New York to Washington, D.C. corridor. Developing and managing properties that serve as community cornerstones, Macerich currently owns 47 million square feet of real estate consisting primarily of interests in 44 regional town centers. Macerich is firmly dedicated to advancing environmental goals, social good and sound corporate governance. A recognized leader in sustainability, Macerich has achieved a #1 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) ranking for the North American retail sector for nine consecutive years (2015-2023).