Contrasting Macerich (NYSE:MAC) and Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) and Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Macerich and Equinix, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Macerich	2	6	5	0	2.23
Equinix	0	4	20	5	3.03

Macerich presently has a consensus price target of $19.26, suggesting a potential upside of 11.87%. Equinix has a consensus price target of $957.05, suggesting a potential upside of 17.99%. Given Equinix’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Equinix is more favorable than Macerich.

Dividends

Macerich pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Equinix pays an annual dividend of $18.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Macerich pays out -158.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Equinix pays out 195.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Equinix has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years. Macerich is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility & Risk

Macerich has a beta of 2.13, indicating that its share price is 113% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equinix has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

87.4% of Macerich shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.9% of Equinix shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Macerich shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Equinix shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Macerich and Equinix’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Macerich	-12.26%	-4.37%	-1.44%
Equinix	10.48%	6.96%	2.66%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Macerich and Equinix”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Macerich	$918.20 million	4.74	-$194.12 million	($0.43)	-40.04
Equinix	$8.75 billion	9.07	$815.00 million	$9.62	84.32

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

Summary

Equinix beats Macerich on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Macerich

Macerich is a fully integrated, self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). As a leading owner, operator and developer of high-quality retail real estate in densely populated and attractive U.S. markets, Macerich’s portfolio is concentrated in California, the Pacific Northwest, Phoenix/Scottsdale, and the Metro New York to Washington, D.C. corridor. Developing and managing properties that serve as community cornerstones, Macerich currently owns 47 million square feet of real estate consisting primarily of interests in 44 regional town centers. Macerich is firmly dedicated to advancing environmental goals, social good and sound corporate governance. A recognized leader in sustainability, Macerich has achieved a #1 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) ranking for the North American retail sector for nine consecutive years (2015-2023).

About Equinix

Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world's digital infrastructure company . Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.