CBRE GROUP, INC. vs SIMON PROPERTY GROUP, INC., two REIT stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
CBRE is a commercial real-estate services firm, a C-corp that brokers leases and manages property for fees; Simon Property owns the malls themselves and pays out their rents as a REIT. The structural gap shows in the payout: Simon yields 3.77% on its distributions, CBRE pays nothing and reinvests its brokerage income. CBRE's 31.4 P/E reflects clean corporate earnings; Simon's 15.8 looks cheaper but understates the multiple, since REIT net income is depressed by heavy property depreciation that funds from operations adds back. Simon runs 4.65 turns of debt against its properties, CBRE 0.89 against a capital-light service model. The pair splits the real-estate business in two: CBRE earns fees on transactions with no property to depreciate and no dividend, Simon owns the assets, carries the leverage, and pays the income, two ways to make money from the same buildings.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | CBRE | SPG |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $137.40 | $226.89 |
| Market cap | $40.8B | $73.7B |
| Sector | REIT | REIT |
| Stage | Growth | Mature |
| P/E | 31.4 | 15.8 |
| P/B | 4.61 | 12.14 |
| P/S | 0.97 | 11.09 |
| EV/EBITDA | 17.1 | 21.3 |
| Revenue growth | +15.1% | +10.9% |
| Operating margin | 4.8% | 43.4% |
| Net margin | 3.1% | 82.0% |
| Return on equity | 14.8% | 89.8% |
| Return on assets | 4.3% | 13.8% |
| Return on invested capital | 8.9% | 7.4% |
| FCF yield | 2.2% | 4.4% |
| Dividend yield | — | 3.8% |
| Debt / equity | 0.89 | 4.65 |
| Current ratio | 1.08 | — |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 3.12 | 1.39 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 3 / 9 | 8 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.