Reviewing Boston Omaha (NYSE:BOC) and CBRE Group (NYSE:CBRE)

Boston Omaha (NYSE:BOC) and CBRE Group (NYSE:CBRE) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, earnings and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

60.4% of Boston Omaha shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.4% of CBRE Group shares are held by institutional investors. 23.2% of Boston Omaha shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of CBRE Group 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Boston Omaha and CBRE Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Boston Omaha	1	0	0	0	1.00
CBRE Group	0	0	9	0	3.00

CBRE Group has a consensus price target of $180.29, suggesting a potential upside of 37.37%. Given CBRE Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe CBRE Group is more favorable than Boston Omaha.

Volatility and Risk

Boston Omaha has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CBRE Group has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Boston Omaha and CBRE Group”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Boston Omaha	$114.38 million	3.36	-$12.43 million	($0.44)	-28.49
CBRE Group	$40.55 billion	0.95	$1.16 billion	$4.39	29.90

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

Profitability

This table compares Boston Omaha and CBRE Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Boston Omaha	-12.10%	-2.57%	-1.94%
CBRE Group	3.11%	24.08%	7.29%

Summary

CBRE Group beats Boston Omaha on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Boston Omaha

Boston Omaha Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the outdoor billboard advertising business in the southeast United States. It is also involved in the surety insurance and related brokerage, broadband, and asset management businesses. The company was formerly known as REO Plus, Inc. and changed its name to Boston Omaha Corporation in March 2015. Boston Omaha Corporation was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.

About CBRE Group

CBRE Group, Inc. operates as a commercial real estate services and investment company in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The Advisory Services segment offers strategic advice and execution to owners, investors, and occupiers of real estate in connection with leasing of offices, and industrial and retail space; clients fully integrated property sales services under the CBRE Capital Markets brand; clients commercial mortgage and structured financing services; originates and sells commercial mortgage loans; property management services, such as marketing, building engineering, accounting, and financial services on a contractual basis for owners of and investors in office, industrial, and retail properties; and valuation services that include market value appraisals, litigation support, discounted cash flow analyses, and feasibility studies, as well as consulting services, such as property condition reports, hotel advisory, and environmental consulting. The Global Workplace Solutions segment provides facilities management, including day-to-day management of client-occupied space, headquarters, regional offices, administrative offices, data centers and other critical facilities, manufacturing and laboratory facilities, and distribution facilities and retail space; and project management services comprising building consulting, program, and project and cost management services under the Turner & Townsend brand name. The Real Estate Investments segment offers investment management services under the CBRE Investment Management brand to pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, foundations, endowments, and other institutional investors; and development services, such as real estate development and investment activities under the Trammell Crow Company and Telford Homes brands to users and investors in commercial real estate, and for their own account. CBRE Group, Inc. was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.