Financial Review: Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE:BDN) vs. Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM)

Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) and Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE:BDN) are both small-cap real estate companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

84.5% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.3% of Brandywine Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.5% of Brandywine Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Piedmont Realty Trust and Brandywine Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Piedmont Realty Trust	1	2	2	1	2.50
Brandywine Realty Trust	3	3	0	0	1.50

Piedmont Realty Trust currently has a consensus price target of $10.75, indicating a potential upside of 7.66%. Brandywine Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 7.53%. Given Piedmont Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Piedmont Realty Trust is more favorable than Brandywine Realty Trust.

Profitability

This table compares Piedmont Realty Trust and Brandywine Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Piedmont Realty Trust	-15.18%	-5.98%	-2.18%
Brandywine Realty Trust	-27.60%	-19.24%	-3.97%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Piedmont Realty Trust and Brandywine Realty Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Piedmont Realty Trust	$564.99 million	2.19	-$83.62 million	($0.71)	-14.06
Brandywine Realty Trust	$484.45 million	1.14	-$178.25 million	($0.80)	-4.07

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

Volatility and Risk

Piedmont Realty Trust has a beta of 1.41, suggesting that its stock price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brandywine Realty Trust has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Piedmont Realty Trust beats Brandywine Realty Trust on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Piedmont Realty Trust

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (also referred to herein as "Piedmont" or the "Company") (NYSE: PDM) is an owner, manager, developer, redeveloper and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in major U.S. Sunbelt markets. The Company is a fully-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") with local management offices in each of its markets and is investment-grade rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's. The Company was designated an Energy Star Partner of the Year for 2021, 2022 and 2023, and it was the only office REIT headquartered in the Southeast to receive those designations. Approximately 85% of the Company's square footage is Energy Star certified and nearly 70% is LEED certified. Piedmont is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.

About Brandywine Realty Trust

Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE: BDN) is one of the largest, publicly traded, full-service, integrated real estate companies in the United States with a core focus in the Philadelphia and Austin markets. Organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT), we own, develop, lease and manage an urban, town center and transit-oriented portfolio comprising 160 properties and 22.6 million square feet as of September 30, 2023 which excludes assets held for sale. Our purpose is to shape, connect and inspire the world around us through our expertise, the relationships we foster, the communities in which we live and work, and the history we build together.