EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) versus Net Lease Office Properties (NYSE:NLOP) Critical Contrast

Net Lease Office Properties (NYSE:NLOP) and EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Net Lease Office Properties and EastGroup Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Net Lease Office Properties	1	0	0	0	1.00
EastGroup Properties	0	5	10	1	2.75

EastGroup Properties has a consensus target price of $200.18, indicating a potential upside of 5.49%. Given EastGroup Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe EastGroup Properties is more favorable than Net Lease Office Properties.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Net Lease Office Properties and EastGroup Properties”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Net Lease Office Properties	$118.92 million	1.75	-$145.26 million	($9.80)	-1.44
EastGroup Properties	$721.34 million	14.03	$257.40 million	$4.87	38.97

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

Volatility & Risk

Net Lease Office Properties has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EastGroup Properties has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

58.3% of Net Lease Office Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.1% of EastGroup Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Net Lease Office Properties shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of EastGroup Properties shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Net Lease Office Properties and EastGroup Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Net Lease Office Properties	-122.16%	-31.89%	-23.92%
EastGroup Properties	35.68%	7.43%	4.85%

Summary

EastGroup Properties beats Net Lease Office Properties on 15 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Net Lease Office Properties

Net Lease Office Properties (NYSE: NLOP) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust with a portfolio of 59 high-quality office properties, totaling approximately 8.7 million leasable square feet primarily leased to corporate tenants on a single-tenant net lease basis. The vast majority of the office properties owned by NLOP are located in the U.S., with the balance in Europe. The portfolio consists of 62 corporate tenants operating in a variety of industries, generating annualized based rent (ABR) of approximately $145 million. NLOP's business plan is to focus on realizing value for its shareholders primarily through strategic asset management and disposition of its property portfolio over time. Given WPC's extensive knowledge of the portfolio, NLOP is externally managed and advised by wholly owned affiliates of WPC to successfully execute on its business strategy. Over the course of its 50-year history, WPC has developed significant expertise in the single-tenant office real estate sector, including the operation, leasing, acquisition and development of assets through many market cycles, and has a proven track record of execution.

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.