Head-To-Head Comparison: Alexander’s (NYSE:ALX) and HG (OTCMKTS:STLY)

Alexander’s (NYSE:ALX) and HG (OTCMKTS:STLY) are both small-cap real estate companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Alexander’s has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HG has a beta of 0.12, suggesting that its stock price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Alexander’s and HG, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alexander’s	1	0	1	1	2.67
HG	0	0	0	0	0.00

Alexander’s presently has a consensus price target of $212.00, suggesting a potential downside of 21.86%. Given Alexander’s’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Alexander’s is more favorable than HG.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alexander’s	79.06%	123.09%	14.43%
HG	14.15%	5.46%	4.29%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

32.0% of Alexander’s shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.7% of HG shares are owned by institutional investors. 26.4% of Alexander’s shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 75.7% of HG shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Alexander’s and HG”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	6.50	$28.22 million	$33.05	8.21
HG	$14.74 million	1.28	$1.53 million	$0.36	10.42

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

Summary

Alexander’s beats HG on 13 of the 15 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 HG

HG Holdings, Inc. engages in the title insurance and real estate businesses in the United States. It operates through four segments: Title Insurance Services, Reinsurance, Management Services, and Real Estate. The company provides title insurance, closing and/or escrow, and similar or related services in connection with residential and commercial real estate transactions. It also owns and operates a portfolio of single-tenant properties leased for the occupancy by U.S. government tenant agencies and sub-agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Veterans affairs, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Transportation. In addition, the company provides excess-of-loss reinsurance coverage related to catastrophic weather risk in Texas; and management advisory services, such as formation, operational, and restructuring services. The company was formerly known as Stanley Furniture Company, Inc. and changed its name to HG Holdings, Inc. in March 2018. HG Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.