Critical Survey: Stag Industrial (NYSE:STAG) versus W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC)

Stag Industrial (NYSE:STAG) and W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Dividends

Stag Industrial pays an annual dividend of $1.55 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. W.P. Carey pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Stag Industrial pays out 120.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. W.P. Carey pays out 159.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Stag Industrial has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years and W.P. Carey has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Stag Industrial and W.P. Carey’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Stag Industrial	28.25%	6.80%	3.47%
W.P. Carey	29.35%	6.29%	2.86%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Stag Industrial and W.P. Carey, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Stag Industrial	1	6	2	0	2.11
W.P. Carey	1	5	5	0	2.36

Stag Industrial currently has a consensus target price of $40.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.12%. W.P. Carey has a consensus target price of $76.90, indicating a potential upside of 1.56%. Given Stag Industrial’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Stag Industrial is more favorable than W.P. Carey.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

88.7% of Stag Industrial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.7% of W.P. Carey shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Stag Industrial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of W.P. Carey shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Stag Industrial and W.P. Carey”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Stag Industrial	$845.18 million	8.61	$273.52 million	$1.29	29.50
W.P. Carey	$1.72 billion	9.83	$466.36 million	$2.34	32.36

W.P. Carey has higher revenue and earnings than Stag Industrial. Stag Industrial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than W.P. Carey, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Stag Industrial has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, W.P. Carey has a beta of 0.76, indicating that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

W.P. Carey beats Stag Industrial on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Stag Industrial

STAG Industrial, Inc. is a real estate investment company, which engages in acquiring, owning, and managing single-tenant, industrial real estate assets. It offers industrial real estate operating platform to real estate ownership. The company was founded by Benjamin S. Butcher on July 21, 2010 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.

About W.P. Carey

W. P. Carey ranks among the largest net lease REITs with a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality, operationally critical commercial real estate, which includes 1,424 net lease properties covering approximately 173 million square feet and a portfolio of 89 self-storage operating properties as of December 31, 2023. With offices in New York, London, Amsterdam and Dallas, the company remains focused on investing primarily in single-tenant, industrial, warehouse and retail properties located in the U.S. and Northern and Western Europe, under long-term net leases with built-in rent escalations.