Head-To-Head Contrast: Four Corners Property Trust (NYSE:FCPT) and EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP)

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) and Four Corners Property Trust (NYSE:FCPT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for EastGroup Properties and Four Corners Property Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
EastGroup Properties	0	5	9	1	2.73
Four Corners Property Trust	0	6	2	0	2.25

EastGroup Properties presently has a consensus target price of $195.53, indicating a potential upside of 2.83%. Four Corners Property Trust has a consensus target price of $28.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.41%. Given Four Corners Property Trust’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Four Corners Property Trust is more favorable than EastGroup Properties.

Profitability

This table compares EastGroup Properties and Four Corners Property Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
EastGroup Properties	35.68%	7.43%	4.85%
Four Corners Property Trust	38.04%	7.39%	3.98%

Dividends

EastGroup Properties pays an annual dividend of $6.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Four Corners Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. EastGroup Properties pays out 127.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Four Corners Property Trust pays out 134.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. EastGroup Properties has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Four Corners Property Trust has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Four Corners Property Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

EastGroup Properties has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Four Corners Property Trust has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.1% of EastGroup Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.7% of Four Corners Property Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of EastGroup Properties shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Four Corners Property Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares EastGroup Properties and Four Corners Property Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
EastGroup Properties	$721.34 million	14.06	$257.40 million	$4.87	39.04
Four Corners Property Trust	$268.07 million	10.04	$100.47 million	$1.09	23.27

EastGroup Properties has higher revenue and earnings than Four Corners Property Trust. Four Corners Property Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than EastGroup Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

EastGroup Properties beats Four Corners Property Trust on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About EastGroup Properties

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE: EGP), a member of the S&P Mid-Cap 400 and Russell 1000 Indexes, is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust focused on the development, acquisition and operation of industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States with an emphasis in the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona, California and North Carolina. The Company's goal is to maximize shareholder value by being a leading provider in its markets of functional, flexible and quality business distribution space for location sensitive customers (primarily in the 20,000 to 100,000 square foot range). The Company's strategy for growth is based on ownership of premier distribution facilities generally clustered near major transportation features in supply-constrained submarkets. The Company's portfolio, including development projects and value-add acquisitions in lease-up and under construction, currently includes approximately 59 million square feet.

About Four Corners Property Trust

Four Corners Property Trust, Inc. engages in the owning, acquisition, and leasing of properties for use in the restaurant and food-service related industries. It operates through the Real Estate Operations and Restaurant Operations segments. The Real Estate Operations segment consists of rental revenues generated by leasing restaurant properties. The Restaurant Operations segment includes the Kerrow Restaurant operating business. The company was founded on July 2, 2015 and is headquartered in Mill Valley, CA.