Critical Survey: Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust (NASDAQ:WHLR) versus Horizon Group (OTCMKTS:HGPI)

Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust (NASDAQ:WHLR) and Horizon Group (OTCMKTS:HGPI) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, valuation and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Horizon Group has a beta of -0.15, suggesting that its share price is 115% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.3% of Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 51.9% of Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.9% of Horizon Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust and Horizon Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust	3.26%	-25.43%	0.53%
Horizon Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust and Horizon Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust	1	0	0	0	1.00
Horizon Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust and Horizon Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust	$99.10 million	0.01	$8.77 million	($888.17)	0.00
Horizon Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Horizon Group.

Summary

Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust beats Horizon Group on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust

Headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. is a fully integrated, self-managed commercial real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on owning and operating income-producing retail properties with a primary focus on grocery-anchored centers.

About Horizon Group

Based in Chicago, Illinois, Horizon Group Properties, Inc. has 12 operating factory outlet centers and one power center in 10 states totaling more than 2.6 million square feet.