Critical Analysis: Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) & CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW)

Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) and CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

Vornado Realty Trust has a beta of 1.63, indicating that its stock price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CoreCivic has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

90.0% of Vornado Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.1% of CoreCivic shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.1% of Vornado Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of CoreCivic shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Vornado Realty Trust and CoreCivic’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vornado Realty Trust	0.46%	1.72%	0.48%
CoreCivic	3.85%	6.55%	3.20%

Dividends

Vornado Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. CoreCivic pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.2%. Vornado Realty Trust pays out -255.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CoreCivic pays out 262.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Vornado Realty Trust and CoreCivic”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vornado Realty Trust	$1.77 billion	4.82	$105.49 million	($0.29)	-154.34
CoreCivic	$1.97 billion	1.19	$67.59 million	$0.67	31.88

Vornado Realty Trust has higher earnings, but lower revenue than CoreCivic. Vornado Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CoreCivic, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Vornado Realty Trust and CoreCivic, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vornado Realty Trust	2	6	2	0	2.00
CoreCivic	0	1	2	0	2.67

Vornado Realty Trust presently has a consensus price target of $36.58, suggesting a potential downside of 18.29%. CoreCivic has a consensus price target of $31.00, suggesting a potential upside of 45.13%. Given CoreCivic’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe CoreCivic is more favorable than Vornado Realty Trust.

Summary

CoreCivic beats Vornado Realty Trust on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vornado Realty Trust

Vornado Realty Trust is a fully – integrated equity real estate investment trust.

About CoreCivic

CoreCivic, Inc. owns and operates partnership correctional, detention, and residential reentry facilities in the United States. It operates through three segments: CoreCivic Safety, CoreCivic Community, and CoreCivic Properties. The company provides a range of solutions to government partners that serve the public good through corrections and detention management, a network of residential reentry centers to help address America’s recidivism crisis, and government real estate solutions. Its correctional, detention, and residential reentry facilities offer rehabilitation and educational programs, including basic education, faith-based services, life skills and employment training, and substance abuse treatment. The company owns and operates correctional and detention facilities, residential reentry centers, and properties for lease. CoreCivic, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in Brentwood, Tennessee.