Analyzing Equity Commonwealth (NYSE:EQC) & Mackenzie Realty Capital (NASDAQ:MKZR)

Equity Commonwealth (NYSE:EQC) and Mackenzie Realty Capital (NASDAQ:MKZR) are both small-cap real estate companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Equity Commonwealth and Mackenzie Realty Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equity Commonwealth	82.00%	2.09%	1.96%
Mackenzie Realty Capital	-90.30%	-18.99%	-7.07%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Equity Commonwealth and Mackenzie Realty Capital, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equity Commonwealth	0	0	0	0	0.00
Mackenzie Realty Capital	1	0	0	0	1.00

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Equity Commonwealth and Mackenzie Realty Capital”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equity Commonwealth	$58.43 million	2.90	$91.16 million	$0.39	4.05
Mackenzie Realty Capital	$22.06 million	0.15	-$25.92 million	($6.15)	-0.24

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.0% of Equity Commonwealth shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Equity Commonwealth shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of Mackenzie Realty Capital shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Equity Commonwealth has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mackenzie Realty Capital has a beta of -0.76, indicating that its share price is 176% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Equity Commonwealth beats Mackenzie Realty Capital on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Equity Commonwealth

Equity Commonwealth (NYSE: EQC) is a Chicago based, internally managed and self-advised real estate investment trust (REIT) with commercial office properties in the United States. EQC's portfolio is comprised of four properties totaling 1.5 million square feet.

About Mackenzie Realty Capital

MacKenzie Realty Capital Inc. is a REIT which focused on investing in multifamily housing and office real estate properties located principally in the United States. MacKenzie Realty Capital Inc. is based in ORINDA, Calif.