Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) vs. American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) Head to Head Comparison

American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) and Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, valuation, earnings and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

American Assets Trust has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Essential Properties Realty Trust has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

American Assets Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.6%. Essential Properties Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. American Assets Trust pays out 117.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Essential Properties Realty Trust pays out 101.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. American Assets Trust has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Essential Properties Realty Trust has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares American Assets Trust and Essential Properties Realty Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Assets Trust	$457.86 million	2.77	$72.82 million	$1.16	17.89
Essential Properties Realty Trust	$449.61 million	13.26	$203.00 million	$1.18	25.50

Essential Properties Realty Trust has lower revenue, but higher earnings than American Assets Trust. American Assets 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for American Assets Trust and Essential Properties Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Assets Trust	0	2	0	0	2.00
Essential Properties Realty Trust	0	2	9	0	2.82

American Assets Trust currently has a consensus target price of $20.50, indicating a potential downside of 1.20%. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $35.18, indicating a potential upside of 16.92%. Given Essential Properties Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Essential Properties Realty Trust is more favorable than American Assets Trust.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

90.4% of American Assets Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.0% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 36.8% of American Assets Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Assets Trust	16.26%	6.47%	2.34%
Essential Properties Realty Trust	44.48%	6.20%	3.78%

Summary

Essential Properties Realty Trust beats American Assets Trust on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Assets Trust

American Assets Trust, Inc. is a full service, vertically integrated and self-administered real estate investment trust ("REIT"), headquartered in San Diego, California. The company has over 55 years of experience in acquiring, improving, developing and managing premier office, retail, and residential properties throughout the United States in some of the nation's most dynamic, high-barrier-to-entry markets primarily in Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Texas and Hawaii. The company's office portfolio comprises approximately 4.1 million rentable square feet, and its retail portfolio comprises approximately 3.1 million rentable square feet. In addition, the company owns one mixed-use property (including approximately 94,000 rentable square feet of retail space and a 369-room all-suite hotel) and 2,110 multifamily units. In 2011, the company was formed to succeed to the real estate business of American Assets, Inc., a privately held corporation founded in 1967 and, as such, has significant experience, long-standing relationships and extensive knowledge of its core markets, submarkets and asset classes.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc., a real estate company, acquires, owns, and manages single-tenant properties in the United States. The company leases its properties to middle-market companies, such as restaurants, car washes, automotive services, medical and dental services, convenience stores, equipment rental, entertainment, early childhood education, grocery, and health and fitness on a long-term basis. As of December 31, 2021, it had a portfolio of 1, 451 properties. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It generally would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey.