Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT – Get Free Report) and SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:CWYUF – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
97.0% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 20.9% of SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Essential Properties Realty Trust and SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Essential Properties Realty Trust | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 3.00 |
| SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.00 |
Dividends
Essential Properties Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.0%. Essential Properties Realty Trust pays out 96.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust pays out 110.6% 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 has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years.
Profitability
This table compares Essential Properties Realty Trust and SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Essential Properties Realty Trust | 45.08% | 6.44% | 3.92% |
| SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust | 38.27% | 5.01% | 2.62% |
Risk & Volatility
Essential Properties Realty Trust has a beta of 0.95, suggesting that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Essential Properties Realty Trust and SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Essential Properties Realty Trust | $561.22 million | 11.48 | $253.01 million | $1.28 | 23.98 |
| SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust | $654.07 million | 5.31 | $180.22 million | $1.23 | 15.82 |
Essential Properties Realty Trust has higher earnings, but lower revenue than SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment 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.
Summary
Essential Properties Realty Trust beats SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust
SmartCentres is one of Canada’s largest fully integrated REITs, with a best-in-class and growing mixed-use portfolio featuring 191 strategically located properties in communities across the country. SmartCentres has approximately $12.0 billion in assets and owns 35.0 million square feet of income producing value-oriented retail and first-class office properties with 98.5% in place and committed occupancy, on 3,500 acres of owned land across Canada.
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