Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) and Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust (NASDAQ:WHLR) Head to Head Review

Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) and Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust (NASDAQ:WHLR) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Cousins Properties and Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cousins Properties	2	1	4	0	2.29
Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust	0	0	0	0	N/A

Cousins Properties currently has a consensus price target of $23.29, suggesting a potential upside of 4.99%. Given Cousins Properties’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Cousins Properties is more favorable than Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

94.4% of Cousins Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.3% of Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Cousins Properties shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 40.6% of Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust shares are owned 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.

Volatility and Risk

Cousins Properties has a beta of 1.27, meaning that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust has a beta of 1.68, meaning that its stock price is 68% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cousins Properties and Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cousins Properties	$802.87 million	4.20	$82.96 million	$0.55	40.33
Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust	$102.32 million	0.10	-$4.69 million	($42.51)	0.00

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

Profitability

This table compares Cousins Properties and Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cousins Properties	10.33%	1.81%	1.09%
Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust	-4.58%	N/A	-0.70%

Summary

Cousins Properties beats Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust

Headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. is a fully integrated, self-managed commercial real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on owning and operating income-producing retail properties with a primary focus on grocery-anchored centers.