Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) & SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:CWYUF) Critical Review

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) and SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:CWYUF) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. and SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.	$678.40 million	6.57	$62.69 million	$0.57	62.40
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust	$670.29 million	4.94	$172.78 million	$1.22	15.22

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

Dividends

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. pays an annual dividend of $1.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.2%. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. pays out 215.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust pays out 109.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

80.7% of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.9% of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 20.9% of SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust shares are owned 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.

Profitability

This table compares Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. and SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.	10.51%	2.73%	1.42%
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust	35.62%	4.74%	2.50%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. and SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.	0	3	2	0	2.40
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust	0	0	0	2	4.00

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. presently has a consensus price target of $39.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.64%. Given Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. is more favorable than SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust.

Summary

SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust beats Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.

Phillips Edison & Co., Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the ownership and operation of shopping centers. It also offers an investment management business providing property management and advisory services. Its portfolio consists of well-occupied, grocery-anchored neighborhood and community shopping centers having a mix of national, regional, and local retailers offering necessity-based goods and services. The company was founded by Jeffrey S. Edison and Michael C. Phillips in 1991 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, OH.

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.