Critical Contrast: First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) versus COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP)

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) and First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and profitability.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares COPT Defense Properties and First Industrial Realty Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
COPT Defense Properties	$753.27 million	4.63	$138.93 million	$1.33	23.17
First Industrial Realty Trust	$669.64 million	11.86	$287.55 million	$1.79	33.51

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

Risk & Volatility

COPT Defense Properties has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Industrial Realty Trust has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.9% of First Industrial Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of COPT Defense Properties shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of First Industrial Realty Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
COPT Defense Properties	19.99%	9.71%	3.50%
First Industrial Realty Trust	33.18%	8.65%	4.38%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for COPT Defense Properties and First Industrial Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
COPT Defense Properties	0	2	5	0	2.71
First Industrial Realty Trust	0	5	7	0	2.58

COPT Defense Properties currently has a consensus target price of $32.86, suggesting a potential upside of 6.62%. First Industrial Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $61.69, suggesting a potential upside of 2.84%. Given COPT Defense Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe COPT Defense Properties is more favorable than First Industrial Realty Trust.

Dividends

COPT Defense Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. First Industrial Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.78 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. COPT Defense Properties pays out 91.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. First Industrial Realty Trust pays out 99.4% 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 has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. COPT Defense Properties is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

First Industrial Realty Trust beats COPT Defense Properties on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About COPT Defense Properties

COPT Defense Properties is a real estate investment trust. It acquires, develops, manages, sells, and leases out office properties and data centers. The firm operates through the following segments: Defense/Information Technology Locations, Regional Office, Wholesale Data Center, and Other. The company was founded on January 22,1988 and is headquartered in Columbia, MD.

About First Industrial Realty Trust

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FR) is a leading U.S.-only owner, operator, developer and acquirer of logistics properties. Through our fully integrated operating and investing platform, we provide high quality facilities and industry-leading customer service to multinational corporations and regional firms that are essential for their supply chains. Our portfolio and new investments are concentrated in 15 target MSAs with an emphasis on supply-constrained, coastally oriented markets. In total, we own and have under development approximately 68.5 million square feet of industrial space as of December 31, 2023.