Head to Head Review: Kennedy-Wilson Holdings (KW) and Leju Holdings Limited (LEJU)

Leju Holdings Limited (NYSE: LEJU) and Kennedy-Wilson Holdings (NYSE:KW) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitabiliy, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Leju Holdings Limited and Kennedy-Wilson Holdings’ top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Leju Holdings Limited	$514.83 million	0.51	-$36.21 million	($0.20)	-7.10
Kennedy-Wilson Holdings	$719.80 million	3.17	$234.80 million	$0.09	222.25

Kennedy-Wilson Holdings has higher revenue and earnings than Leju Holdings Limited. Leju Holdings Limited is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Leju Holdings Limited has a beta of 3.01, indicating that its stock price is 201% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kennedy-Wilson Holdings has a beta of 1.36, indicating that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Kennedy-Wilson Holdings pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Leju Holdings Limited does not pay a dividend. Kennedy-Wilson Holdings pays out 755.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Kennedy-Wilson Holdings has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

4.7% of Leju Holdings Limited shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.0% of Kennedy-Wilson Holdings shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.1% of Kennedy-Wilson Holdings 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Leju Holdings Limited and Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Leju Holdings Limited	1	0	0	0	1.00
Kennedy-Wilson Holdings	0	2	4	0	2.67

Leju Holdings Limited presently has a consensus target price of $2.10, indicating a potential upside of 47.89%. Kennedy-Wilson Holdings has a consensus target price of $29.67, indicating a potential upside of 48.33%. Given Kennedy-Wilson Holdings’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Kennedy-Wilson Holdings is more favorable than Leju Holdings Limited.

Profitability

This table compares Leju Holdings Limited and Kennedy-Wilson Holdings’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Leju Holdings Limited	-5.24%	-5.42%	-3.82%
Kennedy-Wilson Holdings	1.64%	1.80%	0.57%

Summary

Kennedy-Wilson Holdings beats Leju Holdings Limited on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

Leju Holdings Limited Company Profile

Leju Holdings Limited is an online to offline (O2O), real estate services provider in China. The Company offers real estate e-commerce, online advertising and online listing services through its online platform, which consists of local Websites covering over 260 cities and various mobile applications. The Company integrates its online platform with offline services to facilitate residential property transactions. In addition to its own Websites, the Company operates various real estate and home furnishing Websites of SINA Corporation (SINA). Its O2O services for new residential properties include selling discount coupons and facilitating online property viewing, physical property visits, marketing events and pre-sale customer support. It sells advertising primarily on the SINA new residential properties and home furnishing Websites, which are operated by the Company.

Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Company Profile

Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, Inc. is a real estate investment company. The Company owns, operates, and invests in real estate both on its own and through its investment management platform. The Company focuses on multifamily and commercial properties located in the Western United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Italy and Japan. The Company’s segments include KW Investments, and KW Investment Management and Real Estate Services (IMRES). KW Investments invests in multifamily, residential and commercial properties, as well as loans secured by real estate. IMRES provides real estate-related services to investors and lenders, with a focus on financial institution-based clients. As of December 31, 2016, the Company had an ownership interest in approximately 39 million square feet of property globally, including 25,943 multifamily rental units.