Critical Analysis: Lineage (NASDAQ:LINE) and Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW)

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) and Lineage (NASDAQ:LINE) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

96.3% of Highwoods Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Highwoods Properties shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Lineage shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Highwoods Properties and Lineage”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Highwoods Properties	$825.86 million	3.67	$102.25 million	$0.95	29.64
Lineage	$5.34 billion	2.57	-$77.40 million	N/A	N/A

Highwoods Properties has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Lineage.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Highwoods Properties and Lineage, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Highwoods Properties	1	5	1	0	2.00
Lineage	0	7	10	1	2.67

Highwoods Properties currently has a consensus target price of $30.71, suggesting a potential upside of 9.09%. Lineage has a consensus target price of $82.41, suggesting a potential upside of 37.15%. Given Lineage’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Lineage is more favorable than Highwoods Properties.

Profitability

This table compares Highwoods Properties and Lineage’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Highwoods Properties	12.37%	4.33%	1.70%
Lineage	-12.18%	-9.89%	-3.51%

Dividends

Highwoods Properties pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.1%. Lineage pays an annual dividend of $2.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Highwoods Properties pays out 210.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Highwoods Properties beats Lineage on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Highwoods Properties

Highwoods Properties, Inc., headquartered in Raleigh, is a publicly-traded (NYSE:HIW), fully-integrated office real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, acquires, leases and manages properties primarily in the best business districts (BBDs) of Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa. Highwoods is in the work-placemaking business. We believe that by creating environments and experiences where the best and brightest can achieve together what they cannot apart, we can deliver greater value to our customers, their teammates and, in turn, our stakeholders.

About Lineage

Lineage, Inc. is the world’s largest global temperature-controlled warehouse REIT with a network of over 480 strategically located facilities totaling over 84.1 million square feet and 3.0 billion cubic feet of capacity across countries in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Coupling end-to-end supply chain solutions and technology, Lineage partners with some of the world’s largest food and beverage producers, retailers, and distributors to help increase distribution efficiency, advance sustainability, minimize supply chain waste, and, most importantly, feed the world.