Financial Analysis: Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) and EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR)

EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) and Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.

Volatility and Risk

EPR Properties has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Safehold has a beta of 1.78, indicating that its stock price is 78% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

74.7% of EPR Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.4% of Safehold shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of EPR Properties shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Safehold shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for EPR Properties and Safehold, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
EPR Properties	0	5	8	0	2.62
Safehold	1	10	2	0	2.08

EPR Properties currently has a consensus price target of $65.65, suggesting a potential upside of 17.39%. Safehold has a consensus price target of $14.17, suggesting a potential upside of 25.83%. Given Safehold’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Safehold is more favorable than EPR Properties.

Profitability

This table compares EPR Properties and Safehold’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
EPR Properties	35.45%	11.34%	4.58%
Safehold	27.70%	4.76%	1.62%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares EPR Properties and Safehold”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
EPR Properties	$718.36 million	5.96	$274.94 million	$3.11	17.98
Safehold	$385.55 million	2.07	$114.47 million	$1.62	6.95

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

Dividends

EPR Properties pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.7%. Safehold pays an annual dividend of $0.71 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. EPR Properties pays out 119.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Safehold pays out 43.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. EPR Properties has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Safehold has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Summary

EPR Properties beats Safehold on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About EPR Properties

EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) is the leading diversified experiential net lease real estate investment trust (REIT), specializing in select enduring experiential properties in the real estate industry. We focus on real estate venues that create value by facilitating out of home leisure and recreation experiences where consumers choose to spend their discretionary time and money. We have total assets of approximately $5.7 billion (after accumulated depreciation of approximately $1.4 billion) across 44 states. We adhere to rigorous underwriting and investing criteria centered on key industry, property and tenant level cash flow standards. We believe our focused approach provides a competitive advantage and the potential for stable and attractive returns.

About Safehold

Safehold Inc. (NYSE: SAFE) is revolutionizing real estate ownership by providing a new and better way for owners to unlock the value of the land beneath their buildings. Having created the modern ground lease industry in 2017, Safehold continues to help owners of high quality multifamily, office, industrial, hospitality, student housing, life science and mixed-use properties generate higher returns with less risk. The Company, which is taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT), seeks to deliver safe, growing income and long-term capital appreciation to its shareholders.