Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA – Get Free Report) and Orion Office REIT (NYSE:ONL – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.
Dividends
Easterly Government Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.7%. Orion Office REIT pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Easterly Government Properties pays out 750.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Orion Office REIT pays out -3.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings for Easterly Government Properties and Orion Office REIT, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Easterly Government Properties | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Orion Office REIT | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Volatility & Risk
Easterly Government Properties has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Orion Office REIT has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Easterly Government Properties and Orion Office REIT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Easterly Government Properties | 3.22% | 0.82% | 0.33% |
| Orion Office REIT | -94.35% | -20.13% | -11.12% |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
86.5% of Easterly Government Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.0% of Orion Office REIT shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.5% of Easterly Government Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Orion Office REIT shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Easterly Government Properties and Orion Office REIT”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Easterly Government Properties | $336.10 million | 3.23 | $13.00 million | $0.24 | 97.48 |
| Orion Office REIT | $147.65 million | 1.11 | -$139.31 million | ($2.49) | -1.15 |
Easterly Government Properties has higher revenue and earnings than Orion Office REIT. Orion Office REIT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Easterly Government Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Easterly Government Properties beats Orion Office REIT on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Easterly Government Properties
Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE: DEA) is based in Washington, D.C., and focuses primarily on the acquisition, development and management of Class A commercial properties that are leased to the U.S. Government. Easterly’s experienced management team brings specialized insight into the strategy and needs of mission-critical U.S. Government agencies for properties leased to such agencies either directly or through the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).
About Orion Office REIT
Orion Office REIT specializes in the ownership, acquisition and management of a diversified portfolio of mission-critical and corporate headquarters office buildings in high-quality suburban markets across the U.S. The portfolio is leased primarily on a single-tenant net lease basis to creditworthy tenants. The company's team of experienced industry leaders employs a proven, cycle-tested investment evaluation framework which serves as the lens through which capital allocation decisions are made for the current portfolio and future acquisitions.
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