Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria (NASDAQ:CRESY) and Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta (NYSE:VTMX) Critical Review

Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta (NYSE:VTMX) and Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria (NASDAQ:CRESY) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta and Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta	0	1	1	0	2.50
Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria	0	0	0	0	0.00

Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta presently has a consensus target price of $33.50, indicating a potential upside of 32.57%. Given Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta is more favorable than Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria.

Volatility and Risk

Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta and Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta	164.44%	15.40%	10.25%
Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria	-7.06%	-2.46%	-1.08%

Dividends

Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta pays an annual dividend of $0.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria pays an annual dividend of $0.59 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta pays out 3.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria pays out -44.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta and Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta	$244.67 million	89.23	$316.64 million	$4.42	5.72
Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria	$729.23 billion	0.00	$156.92 million	($1.32)	-9.46

Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria. Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

6.6% of Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.9% of Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria shares are owned by institutional investors. 36.2% of Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta beats Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta

Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta, S.A.B. de C.V., together with its subsidiaries, acquires, develops, manages, operates, and leases industrial buildings and distribution facilities in Mexico. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico.

About Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria

Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria, an agricultural company, engages in the production of agricultural commodities in Brazil and other Latin American countries. The company operates through Agricultural Business, and Business Urban Properties and Investments segments. It is also involved in the management, development, and ownership of shopping malls, office buildings, and hotels; sale of grain derivatives, such as flour and oil; production and sale of crops, such as soybean, sugarcane, wheat, corn, oilseed, and sunflower, as well as sorghum and peanuts; and breeding, purchasing, and/or fattening of cattle for sale to slaughterhouses and supermarkets. In addition, it leases its farms to third parties for agriculture, cattle breeding, and seed production; and offers agricultural services. The company was incorporated in 1936 and is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina.