Link Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:LKREF) versus Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (OTCMKTS:UNBLF) Critical Review

Link Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:LKREF – Get Rating) and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (OTCMKTS:UNBLF – Get Rating) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Link Real Estate Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 26.9%. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield pays an annual dividend of $8.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.2%. Link Real Estate Investment Trust pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield pays out 79.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Link Real Estate Investment Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Link Real Estate Investment Trust and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Link Real Estate Investment Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A	$11.79	0.52
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield	N/A	N/A	N/A	$11.15	5.60

Link Real Estate Investment Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Link Real Estate Investment Trust and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Link Real Estate Investment Trust	1	0	0	0	1.00
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield	2	2	2	0	2.00

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has a consensus target price of $54.33, indicating a potential downside of 13.07%. Given Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is more favorable than Link Real Estate Investment Trust.

Profitability

This table compares Link Real Estate Investment Trust and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Link Real Estate Investment Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

39.5% of Link Real Estate Investment Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.2% of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield beats Link Real Estate Investment Trust on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Link Real Estate Investment Trust

(Get Rating)

Link Real Estate Investment Trust engages in the property development and related activities. It offers Asset Management, Asset Enhancement, and Asset Investment. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Hong Kong.

About Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield

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Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE is the premier global developer and operator of Flagship Destinations, with a portfolio valued at 58.3 Bn as at September 30, 2020, of which 86% in retail, 7% in offices, 5% in convention & exhibition venues and 2% in services. Currently, the Group owns and operates 89 shopping centres, including 55 Flagships in the most dynamic cities in Europe and the United States. Its centres welcome 1.2 billion visits per year. Present on two continents and in 12 countries, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE provides a unique platform for retailers and brand events and offers an exceptional and constantly renewed experience for customers. With the support of its 3,400 professionals and an unparalleled track-record and know-how, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE is ideally positioned to generate superior value and develop world-class projects. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE distinguishes itself by its Better Places 2030 agenda, that sets its ambition to create better places that respect the highest environmental standards and contribute to better cities. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE stapled shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Paris (Euronext ticker: URW), with a secondary listing in Australia through Chess Depositary Interests. The Group benefits from an A- rating from Standard & Poor's and from a Baa1 rating from Moody's.