Head to Head Survey: Howard Hughes (NYSE:HHH) & Agree Realty (NYSE:ADC)

Agree Realty (NYSE:ADC) and Howard Hughes (NYSE:HHH) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Agree Realty and Howard Hughes’ top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Agree Realty	$560.33 million	10.48	$169.96 million	$1.70	34.34
Howard Hughes	$1.02 billion	3.28	-$550.95 million	($11.13)	-6.01

Agree Realty has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Howard Hughes. Howard Hughes is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Agree Realty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Agree Realty and Howard Hughes’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Agree Realty	30.91%	3.48%	2.27%
Howard Hughes	-53.88%	-0.62%	-0.21%

Risk and Volatility

Agree Realty has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Howard Hughes has a beta of 1.49, meaning that its share price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Agree Realty and Howard Hughes, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Agree Realty	0	3	6	0	2.67
Howard Hughes	0	0	2	0	3.00

Agree Realty presently has a consensus target price of $65.61, suggesting a potential upside of 12.41%. Howard Hughes has a consensus target price of $97.00, suggesting a potential upside of 45.04%. Given Howard Hughes’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Howard Hughes is more favorable than Agree Realty.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.8% of Agree Realty shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.8% of Howard Hughes shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Agree Realty shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 33.0% of Howard Hughes shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Agree Realty beats Howard Hughes on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Agree Realty

Agree Realty Corporation is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that is RETHINKING RETAIL through the acquisition and development of properties net leased to industry-leading, omni-channel retail tenants. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned and operated a portfolio of 2,135 properties, located in 49 states and containing approximately 44.2 million square feet of gross leasable area. The Company's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ADC".

About Howard Hughes

Howard Hughes Holdings Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate development company in the United States. It operates in four segments: Operating Assets; Master Planned Communities (MPCs); Seaport; and Strategic Developments. The Operating Assets segment consists of developed or acquired retail, office, and multi-family properties along with other retail investments. Its MPCs segment develops, sells, and leases residential and commercial land designated for long-term community development projects in and around Las Vegas, Nevada; Houston, Texas; and Phoenix, Arizona. The Seaport segment is involved in the landlord operations, managed businesses, and events and sponsorships services of its restaurant, retail, and entertain properties in Pier 17, New York City; Historic Area/Uplands; and Tin Building, as well as in 250 Water Street and in the Jean-Georges restaurants. The Strategic Development segment develops and redevelops residential condominiums and commercial properties. It serves homebuilders. Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.