Reviewing Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) & Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ)

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) and Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and earnings.

Dividends

Saul Centers pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Cousins Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Saul Centers pays out 136.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Cousins Properties pays out 261.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Saul Centers is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

50.0% of Saul Centers shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.4% of Cousins Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 56.6% of Saul Centers shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Cousins Properties shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Saul Centers and Cousins Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Saul Centers	0	0	1	0	3.00
Cousins Properties	1	1	5	0	2.57

Saul Centers currently has a consensus price target of $45.50, suggesting a potential upside of 12.04%. Cousins Properties has a consensus price target of $28.29, suggesting a potential downside of 3.82%. Given Saul Centers’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Saul Centers is more favorable than Cousins Properties.

Profitability

This table compares Saul Centers and Cousins Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Saul Centers	20.49%	16.61%	2.69%
Cousins Properties	7.25%	1.31%	0.77%

Volatility and Risk

Saul Centers has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cousins Properties has a beta of 1.31, suggesting that its stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Saul Centers and Cousins Properties”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Saul Centers	$264.08 million	3.69	$52.69 million	$1.73	23.47
Cousins Properties	$818.05 million	5.47	$82.96 million	$0.49	60.02

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

Summary

Saul Centers beats Cousins Properties on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Saul Centers

Saul Centers is a self-managed, self-administered equity REIT headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Saul Centers currently operates and manages a real estate portfolio comprised of 61 properties that includes (a) 57 community and neighborhood Shopping Centers and Mixed-Use properties with approximately 9.8 million square feet of leasable area and (b) four land and development properties. Over 85% of the Company’s property operating income is generated from properties in the metropolitan Washington, DC/Baltimore area.

About Cousins Properties

Cousins Properties Incorporated ("Cousins") is a fully integrated, self-administered, and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company, based in Atlanta and acting through its operating partnership, Cousins Properties LP, primarily invests in Class A office buildings located in high-growth Sun Belt markets. Founded in 1958, Cousins creates shareholder value through its extensive expertise in the development, acquisition, leasing, and management of high-quality real estate assets. The Company has a comprehensive strategy in place based on a simple platform, trophy assets, and opportunistic investments.