Reviewing Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE:CWK) and Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL)

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE:CWK) and Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Cushman & Wakefield and Jones Lang LaSalle, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cushman & Wakefield	0	5	5	0	2.50
Jones Lang LaSalle	0	5	4	1	2.60

Cushman & Wakefield presently has a consensus target price of $17.88, indicating a potential upside of 7.34%. Jones Lang LaSalle has a consensus target price of $342.14, indicating a potential downside of 2.41%. Given Cushman & Wakefield’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Cushman & Wakefield is more favorable than Jones Lang LaSalle.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

95.6% of Cushman & Wakefield shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Jones Lang LaSalle shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Cushman & Wakefield shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Jones Lang LaSalle shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Cushman & Wakefield has a beta of 1.47, meaning that its share price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Jones Lang LaSalle has a beta of 1.42, meaning that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Cushman & Wakefield and Jones Lang LaSalle’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cushman & Wakefield	2.23%	14.69%	3.60%
Jones Lang LaSalle	2.49%	11.10%	4.63%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cushman & Wakefield and Jones Lang LaSalle”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cushman & Wakefield	$10.00 billion	0.39	$131.30 million	$0.96	17.35
Jones Lang LaSalle	$23.43 billion	0.71	$546.80 million	$13.04	26.89

Jones Lang LaSalle has higher revenue and earnings than Cushman & Wakefield. Cushman & Wakefield is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Jones Lang LaSalle, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Jones Lang LaSalle beats Cushman & Wakefield on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield Plc engages in the provision of commercial real estate services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific (APAC). The Americas segment consists of operations located in the United States, Canada and key markets in Latin America. The EMEA segment includes operations in the UK, France, Netherlands and other markets in Europe and the Middle East. The APAC segment comprises of operations in Australia, Singapore, China and other markets in the Asia Pacific region. The company was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated operates as a commercial real estate and investment management company. It engages in the buying, building, occupying, managing, and investing in a commercial, industrial, hotel, residential, and retail properties in Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers a range of real estate services, including agency leasing, tenant representation, property management, advisory, and consulting services; and capital market services, such as equity and debt advisory, loan sales, equity advisory, loan servicing, merger and acquisition, corporate advisory, and investment sales and advisory services. It also provides on-site management services for office, industrial, retail, multifamily residential, and various other properties; integrated facilities management services; designing, building, management, and consulting services to tenants of leased space, owners in self-occupied buildings, and owners of real estate investments; and advisory, consulting, valuation, and energy and sustainability services. In addition, the company offers investment management services to institutional and retail investors, including high-net-worth individuals. It provides its services to real estate owners, occupiers, investors, and developers for various property types, including critical environments and data centers, offices, industrial and warehouses, residential properties, infrastructure projects, retail and shopping malls, logistics, and military housing and transportation centers; and hotels and hospitality, cultural, educational, government, healthcare and laboratory, and sports facilities. The company was formerly known as LaSalle Partners Incorporated and changed its name to Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated in March 1999. Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.