Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) and UDR (NYSE:UDR) Head to Head Review

UDR (NYSE:UDR) and Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for UDR and Whitestone REIT, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
UDR	1	9	8	0	2.39
Whitestone REIT	0	1	3	0	2.75

UDR currently has a consensus price target of $44.28, suggesting a potential downside of 2.04%. Whitestone REIT has a consensus price target of $15.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.87%. Given Whitestone REIT’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Whitestone REIT is more favorable than UDR.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.8% of UDR shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.5% of Whitestone REIT shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of UDR shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of Whitestone REIT shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

UDR has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Whitestone REIT has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares UDR and Whitestone REIT”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
UDR	$1.63 billion	9.16	$444.35 million	$1.38	32.75
Whitestone REIT	$146.97 million	4.53	$19.18 million	$0.48	27.69

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

Dividends

UDR pays an annual dividend of $1.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Whitestone REIT pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. UDR pays out 123.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Whitestone REIT pays out 104.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. UDR has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Whitestone REIT is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares UDR and Whitestone REIT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
UDR	8.34%	3.70%	1.28%
Whitestone REIT	10.68%	3.75%	1.42%

Summary

Whitestone REIT beats UDR on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About UDR

UDR, Inc. (NYSE: UDR), an S&P 500 company, is a leading multifamily real estate investment trust with a demonstrated performance history of delivering superior and dependable returns by successfully managing, buying, selling, developing and redeveloping attractive real estate communities in targeted U.S. markets. As of December 31, 2023, UDR owned or had an ownership position in 60,336 apartment homes including 359 homes under development. For over 51 years, UDR has delivered long-term value to shareholders, the best standard of service to Residents and the highest quality experience for Associates.

About Whitestone REIT

Whitestone REIT (NYSE: WSR) is a community-centered real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, owns, operates, and develops open-air, retail centers located in some of the fastest growing markets in the country: Phoenix, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Our centers are convenience focused: merchandised with a mix of service-oriented tenants providing food (restaurants and grocers), self-care (health and fitness), services (financial and logistics), education and entertainment to the surrounding communities. The Company believes its strong community connections and deep tenant relationships are key to the success of its current centers and its acquisition strategy.