Alexander’s (NYSE:ALX) vs. Four Corners Property Trust (NYSE:FCPT) Critical Analysis

Alexander’s (NYSE:ALX) and Four Corners Property Trust (NYSE:FCPT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Alexander’s has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Four Corners Property Trust has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Alexander’s and Four Corners Property Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alexander’s	0	2	0	0	2.00
Four Corners Property Trust	0	5	3	0	2.38

Four Corners Property Trust has a consensus price target of $27.86, indicating a potential upside of 18.91%. Given Four Corners Property Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Four Corners Property Trust is more favorable than Alexander’s.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

32.0% of Alexander’s shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.7% of Four Corners Property Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 26.3% of Alexander’s shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Four Corners Property Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Alexander’s pays an annual dividend of $18.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.9%. Four Corners Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Alexander’s pays out 327.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Four Corners Property Trust pays out 133.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Alexander’s has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Four Corners Property Trust has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alexander’s	13.24%	20.68%	2.23%
Four Corners Property Trust	38.20%	7.39%	4.00%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Alexander’s and Four Corners Property Trust”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alexander’s	$213.18 million	5.47	$28.22 million	$5.49	41.53
Four Corners Property Trust	$294.13 million	8.74	$112.36 million	$1.10	21.30

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

Summary

Four Corners Property Trust beats Alexander’s on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alexander’s

Alexander’s, Inc. (NYSE: ALX) is a real estate investment trust (REIT), incorporated in Delaware, engaged in leasing, managing, developing and redeveloping its properties. All references to we, us, our, Company and Alexander’s refer to Alexander’s, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. We are managed by, and our properties are leased and developed by, Vornado Realty Trust (Vornado) (NYSE: VNO). We have five properties in New York City.

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.