Head-To-Head Survey: Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) & Regency Centers (NASDAQ:REG)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Regency Centers and Essential Properties Realty Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Regency Centers	0	9	7	1	2.53
Essential Properties Realty Trust	0	1	9	1	3.00

Regency Centers currently has a consensus price target of $80.14, suggesting a potential downside of 1.20%. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $36.60, suggesting a potential upside of 9.80%. Given Essential Properties Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Essential Properties Realty Trust is more favorable than Regency Centers.

Volatility & Risk

Regency Centers has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Essential Properties Realty Trust has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Regency Centers and Essential Properties Realty Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Regency Centers	$1.55 billion	9.56	$527.46 million	$2.80	28.97
Essential Properties Realty Trust	$561.22 million	12.49	$253.01 million	$1.28	26.04

Regency Centers has higher revenue and earnings than Essential Properties Realty Trust. Essential Properties Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Regency Centers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

96.1% of Regency Centers shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.0% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Regency Centers shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Regency Centers pays an annual dividend of $3.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Essential Properties Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Regency Centers pays out 107.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. 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. Regency Centers has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Essential Properties Realty Trust has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Regency Centers	33.95%	7.79%	4.11%
Essential Properties Realty Trust	45.08%	6.44%	3.92%

Summary

Essential Properties Realty Trust beats Regency Centers on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Regency Centers

Regency Centers is a preeminent national owner, operator, and developer of shopping centers located in suburban trade areas with compelling demographics. Our portfolio includes thriving properties merchandised with highly productive grocers, restaurants, service providers, and best-in-class retailers that connect to their neighborhoods, communities, and customers. Operating as a fully integrated real estate company, Regency Centers is a qualified real estate investment trust (REIT) that is self-administered, self-managed, and an S&P 500 Index member.

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.