Comparing First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) and Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT)

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT – Get Rating) and First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR – Get Rating) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.2% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.0% of First Industrial Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of First Industrial Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Essential Properties Realty Trust and First Industrial Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essential Properties Realty Trust	0	2	5	0	2.71
First Industrial Realty Trust	1	0	5	0	2.67

Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has a consensus price target of $25.93, indicating a potential upside of 4.24%. First Industrial Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $58.13, indicating a potential upside of 9.05%. Given First Industrial Realty Trust’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Industrial Realty Trust is more favorable than Essential Properties Realty Trust.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Essential Properties Realty Trust and First Industrial Realty Trust’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Essential Properties Realty Trust	$300.07 million	12.34	$134.13 million	$1.07	23.24
First Industrial Realty Trust	$539.93 million	13.05	$359.13 million	$2.86	18.64

First Industrial Realty Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Essential Properties Realty Trust. First Industrial Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Essential Properties Realty Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Essential Properties Realty Trust and First Industrial Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essential Properties Realty Trust	50.10%	6.07%	3.86%
First Industrial Realty Trust	67.19%	15.28%	7.80%

Dividends

Essential Properties Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. First Industrial Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Essential Properties Realty Trust pays out 102.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. First Industrial Realty Trust pays out 44.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Essential Properties Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and First Industrial Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years.

Volatility & Risk

Essential Properties Realty Trust has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its share price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Industrial Realty Trust has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Industrial Realty Trust beats Essential Properties Realty Trust on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

(Get Rating)

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. engages in the acquisition, ownership, and management of single-tenant properties that are net leased on a long-term basis. Its portfolio includes the following: Captain D’s, Art Van Furniture, Mister and Zips Car Wash, AMC Theaters, Perkins, 84 Lumber, Mirabito, Ruby Tuesday, and White Oak Station. The company was founded on January 12, 2018 and is headquartered in Princeton, NJ.

About First Industrial Realty Trust

(Get Rating)

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. engages in the ownership, management, acquisition, sale, development, and redevelopment of industrial real estate. The firm product portfolio includes bulk warehouse, regional warehouse, R&D/flex, and light industrial properties. The company was founded by Johannson L. Yap, Robert L. Denton, Sr., and Jay H. Shidler on August 10, 1993, and is headquartered in Chicago, IL.