Comparing Highlands REIT (OTCMKTS:HHDS) & W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC)

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) and Highlands REIT (OTCMKTS:HHDS) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

W.P. Carey has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Highlands REIT has a beta of 19.17, indicating that its stock price is 1,817% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

73.7% of W.P. Carey shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Highlands REIT shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of W.P. Carey shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Highlands REIT shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares W.P. Carey and Highlands REIT”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
W.P. Carey	$1.72 billion	9.36	$466.36 million	$2.34	30.83
Highlands REIT	$37.41 million	2.30	-$11.10 million	($0.01)	-12.00

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for W.P. Carey and Highlands REIT, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
W.P. Carey	1	6	6	0	2.38
Highlands REIT	0	0	0	0	0.00

W.P. Carey presently has a consensus price target of $77.83, suggesting a potential upside of 7.88%. Given W.P. Carey’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe W.P. Carey is more favorable than Highlands REIT.

Profitability

This table compares W.P. Carey and Highlands REIT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
W.P. Carey	29.35%	6.29%	2.86%
Highlands REIT	-30.49%	-5.91%	-3.53%

Summary

W.P. Carey beats Highlands REIT on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About W.P. Carey

W. P. Carey ranks among the largest net lease REITs with a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality, operationally critical commercial real estate, which includes 1,424 net lease properties covering approximately 173 million square feet and a portfolio of 89 self-storage operating properties as of December 31, 2023. With offices in New York, London, Amsterdam and Dallas, the company remains focused on investing primarily in single-tenant, industrial, warehouse and retail properties located in the U.S. and Northern and Western Europe, under long-term net leases with built-in rent escalations.

About Highlands REIT

We are a self-advised and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT) created to own and manage substantially all of the non-core investment properties previously owned and managed by our former parent, InvenTrust Properties Corp., a Maryland corporation (InvenTrust). On April 28, 2016, we were spun-off from InvenTrust through a pro rata distribution (the Distribution) by InvenTrust of 100% of the outstanding shares of our common stock to holders of InvenTrust's common stock. Prior to or concurrent with the separation, we and InvenTrust engaged in certain reorganization transactions that were designed to consolidate substantially all of InvenTrust's remaining non-core investment properties in Highlands.