Critical Survey: Star (NASDAQ:STHO) vs. Stratus Properties (NASDAQ:STRS)

Stratus Properties (NASDAQ:STRS) and Star (NASDAQ:STHO) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Stratus Properties and Star, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Stratus Properties	0	1	0	0	2.00
Star	1	0	0	0	1.00

Profitability

This table compares Stratus Properties and Star’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Stratus Properties	74.96%	6.28%	3.83%
Star	-57.45%	1.18%	0.58%

Risk & Volatility

Stratus Properties has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Star has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Stratus Properties and Star”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Stratus Properties	$29.91 million	7.77	$11.98 million	$2.64	11.04
Star	$110.14 million	0.98	-$64.25 million	($5.17)	-1.74

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

61.6% of Stratus Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.3% of Star shares are held by institutional investors. 10.0% of Stratus Properties shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.1% of Star shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Stratus Properties beats Star on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Stratus Properties

Stratus Properties Inc., a real estate company, engages in the entitlement, development, management, leasing, and sale of multi and single family residential and commercial real estate properties in the Austin, Texas area and other select markets in Texas. The company operates in two segments, Real Estate Operations and Leasing Operations. Its leasing operations cover lease of space at retail and mixed-use and multi-family properties. The company was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Star

Star Holdings engages in the non-ground lease related commercial real estate businesses in the United States. Its portfolio primarily comprises interest in the Asbury Park Waterfront and Magnolia Green residential development projects. Star Holdings is based in New York, New York.