Reviewing CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) & Star (NASDAQ:STHO)

Star (NASDAQ:STHO) and CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) are both real estate companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Star and CoStar Group, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Star	0	1	0	0	2.00
CoStar Group	2	8	10	0	2.40

CoStar Group has a consensus price target of $39.11, indicating a potential upside of 29.23%. Given CoStar Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe CoStar Group is more favorable than Star.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

89.3% of Star shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.6% of CoStar Group shares are held by institutional investors. 4.1% of Star shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of CoStar Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Star and CoStar Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Star	-31.33%	1.10%	0.57%
CoStar Group	4.87%	4.87%	3.82%

Risk and Volatility

Star has a beta of 1.3, suggesting that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CoStar Group has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Star and CoStar Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Star	$77.41 million	1.21	-$64.25 million	($2.67)	-2.91
CoStar Group	$3.67 billion	3.31	$7.00 million	$0.44	68.77

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

Summary

CoStar Group beats Star on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Star

Star Holdings (NASDAQ: STHO) is a real estate investment company that owns and manages a diversified portfolio of commercial real estate and real estate-related investments. Its holdings have included properties and investments across several sectors, including multifamily housing, office, retail, industrial, hospitality and land. The company’s portfolio is primarily focused on real estate in the United States and may include both direct property interests and investments in real estate debt or other related assets.

About CoStar Group

CoStar Group, Inc. is a provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces. Its services help real estate professionals, investors, lenders and businesses research properties, evaluate markets and connect with buyers, sellers and tenants. The company’s brands include CoStar, which provides commercial property data and research; LoopNet, a commercial property marketplace; Apartments.com, a rental listings platform; and STR, which supplies benchmarking data for the hospitality industry.