Head-To-Head Analysis: Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) vs. American Strategic Investment (NYSE:NYC)

Saul Centers (NYSE:BFS) and American Strategic Investment (NYSE:NYC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Saul Centers and American Strategic Investment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Saul Centers	20.84%	17.16%	2.72%
American Strategic Investment	-334.85%	-17.68%	-4.58%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Saul Centers and American Strategic Investment”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Saul Centers	$257.21 million	3.46	$52.69 million	$1.84	20.02
American Strategic Investment	$62.71 million	0.38	-$105.92 million	($85.54)	-0.10

Saul Centers has higher revenue and earnings than American Strategic Investment. American Strategic Investment is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Saul Centers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

50.0% of Saul Centers shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.0% of American Strategic Investment shares are owned by institutional investors. 56.6% of Saul Centers shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of American Strategic Investment shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Saul Centers and American Strategic Investment, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Saul Centers	0	0	1	0	3.00
American Strategic Investment	0	0	0	0	0.00

Saul Centers currently has a consensus target price of $45.50, suggesting a potential upside of 23.49%. Given Saul Centers’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Saul Centers is more favorable than American Strategic Investment.

Volatility and Risk

Saul Centers has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Strategic Investment has a beta of 0.12, indicating that its share price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Saul Centers beats American Strategic Investment on 14 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Saul Centers

Saul Centers is a self-managed, self-administered equity REIT headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Saul Centers currently operates and manages a real estate portfolio comprised of 61 properties that includes (a) 57 community and neighborhood Shopping Centers and Mixed-Use properties with approximately 9.8 million square feet of leasable area and (b) four land and development properties. Over 85% of the Company’s property operating income is generated from properties in the metropolitan Washington, DC/Baltimore area.

About American Strategic Investment

American Strategic Investment Co. (NYSE: NYC) owns a portfolio of high-quality commercial real estate located within the five boroughs of New York City.