Head to Head Contrast: Macerich (NYSE:MAC) vs. Realty Income (NYSE:O)

Macerich (NYSE:MAC) and Realty Income (NYSE:O) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Macerich and Realty Income, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Macerich	2	4	7	0	2.38
Realty Income	1	7	6	1	2.47

Macerich currently has a consensus price target of $21.15, indicating a potential downside of 3.74%. Realty Income has a consensus price target of $67.35, indicating a potential upside of 9.44%. Given Realty Income’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Realty Income is more favorable than Macerich.

Profitability

This table compares Macerich and Realty Income’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Macerich	-18.22%	-6.95%	-2.12%
Realty Income	18.94%	2.80%	1.55%

Dividends

Macerich pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Realty Income pays an annual dividend of $3.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Macerich pays out -95.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Realty Income pays out 265.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Realty Income has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Realty Income is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Macerich and Realty Income”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Macerich	$1.01 billion	5.66	-$197.15 million	($0.71)	-30.95
Realty Income	$5.88 billion	9.75	$1.06 billion	$1.22	50.44

Realty Income has higher revenue and earnings than Macerich. Macerich is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Realty Income, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Macerich has a beta of 2.12, meaning that its stock price is 112% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Realty Income has a beta of 0.75, meaning that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

87.4% of Macerich shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.8% of Realty Income shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Macerich shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Realty Income shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Realty Income beats Macerich on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Macerich

Macerich is a fully integrated, self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). As a leading owner, operator and developer of high-quality retail real estate in densely populated and attractive U.S. markets, Macerich’s portfolio is concentrated in California, the Pacific Northwest, Phoenix/Scottsdale, and the Metro New York to Washington, D.C. corridor. Developing and managing properties that serve as community cornerstones, Macerich currently owns 47 million square feet of real estate consisting primarily of interests in 44 regional town centers. Macerich is firmly dedicated to advancing environmental goals, social good and sound corporate governance. A recognized leader in sustainability, Macerich has achieved a #1 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) ranking for the North American retail sector for nine consecutive years (2015-2023).

About Realty Income

Realty Income, The Monthly Dividend Company, is an S&P 500 company and member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats index. We invest in people and places to deliver dependable monthly dividends that increase over time. The company is structured as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”), and its monthly dividends are supported by the cash flow from over 15,450 real estate properties (including properties acquired in the Spirit merger in January 2024) primarily owned under long-term net lease agreements with commercial clients. To date, the company has declared 644 consecutive monthly dividends on its shares of common stock throughout its 55-year operating history and increased the dividend 123 times since Realty Income’s public listing in 1994 (NYSE: O).