Alexander’s (NYSE:ALX) versus Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) Financial Analysis

Alexander’s (NYSE:ALX) and Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Alexander’s pays an annual dividend of $18.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.9%. Cousins Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Alexander’s pays out 450.0% 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 -4,266.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alexander’s has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Alexander’s is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Alexander’s and Cousins Properties”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alexander’s	$213.18 million	6.27	$28.22 million	$4.00	65.44
Cousins Properties	$1.01 billion	4.74	$40.50 million	($0.03)	-965.83

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

Profitability

This table compares Alexander’s and Cousins Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alexander’s	9.72%	17.38%	1.71%
Cousins Properties	-0.52%	-0.11%	-0.06%

Risk & Volatility

Alexander’s has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cousins Properties has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Alexander’s and Cousins Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alexander’s	0	2	0	0	2.00
Cousins Properties	1	2	6	0	2.56

Cousins Properties has a consensus price target of $28.73, indicating a potential downside of 0.85%. Given Cousins Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Cousins Properties is more favorable than Alexander’s.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

32.0% of Alexander’s shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.4% of Cousins Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 26.4% of Alexander’s shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Cousins Properties shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Alexander’s beats Cousins Properties on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alexander’s

Alexander’s, Inc. (NYSE: ALX) is a real estate investment trust (REIT), incorporated in Delaware, engaged in leasing, managing, developing and redeveloping its properties. All references to we, us, our, Company and Alexander’s refer to Alexander’s, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. We are managed by, and our properties are leased and developed by, Vornado Realty Trust (Vornado) (NYSE: VNO). We have five properties in New York City.

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.