Head to Head Contrast: Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) and Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX)

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) and Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Essential Properties Realty Trust and Brixmor Property Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essential Properties Realty Trust	0	2	9	0	2.82
Brixmor Property Group	0	2	9	0	2.82

Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has a consensus price target of $35.45, suggesting a potential upside of 12.17%. Brixmor Property Group has a consensus price target of $30.30, suggesting a potential upside of 4.50%. Given Essential Properties Realty Trust’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Essential Properties Realty Trust is more favorable than Brixmor Property Group.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Essential Properties Realty Trust	$449.61 million	13.93	$203.00 million	$1.24	25.49
Brixmor Property Group	$1.37 billion	6.48	$339.27 million	$1.26	23.01

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

Profitability

This table compares Essential Properties Realty Trust and Brixmor Property Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essential Properties Realty Trust	45.25%	6.38%	3.88%
Brixmor Property Group	28.16%	13.00%	4.37%

Volatility & Risk

Essential Properties Realty Trust has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brixmor Property Group has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Essential Properties Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Brixmor Property Group pays an annual dividend of $1.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Essential Properties Realty Trust pays out 100.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Brixmor Property Group pays out 97.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Essential Properties Realty Trust has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years and Brixmor Property Group has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Brixmor Property Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.0% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.4% of Brixmor Property Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Brixmor Property Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Brixmor Property Group beats Essential Properties Realty Trust on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Brixmor Property Group

Brixmor Property Group, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust, which engages in owning and operating a portfolio of grocery anchored community and neighborhood shopping centers. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, NY.