Reviewing Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) and Westwood Holdings Group (NYSE:WHG)

Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) and Westwood Holdings Group (NYSE:WHG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Elme Communities and Westwood Holdings Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Elme Communities	1	0	0	0	1.00
Westwood Holdings Group	0	0	1	0	3.00

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Elme Communities and Westwood Holdings Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Elme Communities	$206.36 million	0.03	-$154.16 million	($1.52)	-0.04
Westwood Holdings Group	$97.76 million	1.82	$7.06 million	$0.81	23.15

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

Risk & Volatility

Elme Communities has a beta of 0.73, meaning that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westwood Holdings Group has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.9% of Elme Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.6% of Westwood Holdings Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Elme Communities shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 17.4% of Westwood Holdings Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Elme Communities and Westwood Holdings Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Elme Communities	N/A	N/A	N/A
Westwood Holdings Group	7.73%	8.10%	6.59%

Summary

Westwood Holdings Group beats Elme Communities on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Elme Communities

Elme Communities is committed to elevating what home can be for middle-income renters by providing a higher level of quality, service, and experience. The Company is a multifamily real estate investment trust that owns and operates approximately 9,400 apartment homes in the Washington, DC metro and the Atlanta metro regions, and owns approximately 300,000 square feet of commercial space. Focused on providing quality, affordable homes to a deep, solid, and underserved base of mid-market demand, Elme Communities is building long-term value for shareholders.

About Westwood Holdings Group

Westwood Holdings Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, manages investment assets and provides services for its clients. The company operates in two segments, Advisory and Trust. The Advisory segment provides investment advisory services to corporate retirement plans, public retirement plans, endowments, foundations, individuals, and the Westwood Funds; and investment sub-advisory services to mutual funds, pooled investment vehicles, and its Trust segment. The Trust segment offers trust and custodial services; and participates in common trust funds that it sponsors to institutions and high net worth individuals. Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in Dallas, Texas.