Whitestone REIT (WSR) Competitors

Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) and Regency Centers (NASDAQ:REG) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and profitability.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in WSR or REG?

69.5% of Whitestone REIT shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of Regency Centers shares are held by institutional investors. 3.2% of Whitestone REIT shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Regency Centers shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, WSR or REG?

Regency Centers has higher revenue and earnings than Whitestone REIT. Whitestone REIT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Regency Centers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Whitestone REIT	$154.28M	4.03	$36.89M	$0.65	18.77
Regency Centers	$1.45B	8.87	$400.39M	$2.14	33.19

Does the media favor WSR or REG?

In the previous week, Regency Centers had 20 more articles in the media than Whitestone REIT. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for Regency Centers and 0 mentions for Whitestone REIT. Regency Centers' average media sentiment score of 1.43 beat Whitestone REIT's score of 0.00 indicating that Regency Centers is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Whitestone REIT	Neutral
Regency Centers	Positive

Is WSR or REG more profitable?

Regency Centers has a net margin of 27.00% compared to Whitestone REIT's net margin of 21.70%. Whitestone REIT's return on equity of 7.76% beat Regency Centers' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Whitestone REIT	21.70%	7.76%	2.98%
Regency Centers	27.00%	6.05%	3.22%

Do analysts rate WSR or REG?

Whitestone REIT currently has a consensus target price of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.95%. Regency Centers has a consensus target price of $78.33, indicating a potential upside of 10.30%. Given Whitestone REIT's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Whitestone REIT is more favorable than Regency Centers.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Whitestone REIT	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Regency Centers	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75

Is WSR or REG a better dividend stock?

Whitestone REIT pays an annual dividend of $0.54 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Regency Centers pays an annual dividend of $2.82 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Whitestone REIT pays out 83.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Regency Centers pays out 131.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Whitestone REIT has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Regency Centers has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Whitestone REIT is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more risk and volatility, WSR or REG?

Whitestone REIT has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Regency Centers has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Regency Centers beats Whitestone REIT on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.