Financial Review: Horizon Group (OTCMKTS:HGPI) and American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT)

American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) and Horizon Group (OTCMKTS:HGPI) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares American Assets Trust and Horizon Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Assets Trust	$436.20 million	2.75	$71.37 million	$0.91	21.48
Horizon Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

American Assets Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Horizon Group.

Volatility & Risk

American Assets Trust has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Horizon Group has a beta of -0.22, indicating that its share price is 122% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for American Assets Trust and Horizon Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Assets Trust	1	2	0	0	1.67
Horizon Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

American Assets Trust presently has a consensus target price of $18.00, suggesting a potential downside of 7.90%. Given American Assets Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe American Assets Trust is more favorable than Horizon Group.

Profitability

This table compares American Assets Trust and Horizon Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Assets Trust	12.76%	4.96%	1.89%
Horizon Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

90.4% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 36.8% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 15.9% of Horizon Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

American Assets Trust beats Horizon Group on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Assets Trust

American Assets Trust, Inc. is a full service, vertically integrated and self-administered real estate investment trust ("REIT"), headquartered in San Diego, California. The company has over 55 years of experience in acquiring, improving, developing and managing premier office, retail, and residential properties throughout the United States in some of the nation's most dynamic, high-barrier-to-entry markets primarily in Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Texas and Hawaii. The company's office portfolio comprises approximately 4.1 million rentable square feet, and its retail portfolio comprises approximately 3.1 million rentable square feet. In addition, the company owns one mixed-use property (including approximately 94,000 rentable square feet of retail space and a 369-room all-suite hotel) and 2,110 multifamily units. In 2011, the company was formed to succeed to the real estate business of American Assets, Inc., a privately held corporation founded in 1967 and, as such, has significant experience, long-standing relationships and extensive knowledge of its core markets, submarkets and asset classes.

About Horizon Group

Based in Chicago, Illinois, Horizon Group Properties, Inc. has 12 operating factory outlet centers and one power center in 10 states totaling more than 2.6 million square feet.