Head to Head Survey: Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) versus Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO)

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) and Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and dividends.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Essential Properties Realty Trust and Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.”s gross 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	14.23	$203.00 million	$1.15	28.17
Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.	$661.39 million	6.65	$62.69 million	$0.57	61.54

Essential Properties Realty Trust has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.. Essential Properties Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Phillips Edison & Company, Inc., indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.0% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.7% of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.9% of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Essential Properties Realty Trust and Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essential Properties Realty Trust	44.62%	6.13%	3.75%
Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.	10.51%	2.73%	1.42%

Dividends

Essential Properties Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. pays an annual dividend of $1.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Essential Properties Realty Trust pays out 102.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. pays out 215.8% 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 raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years and Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Essential Properties Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

Essential Properties Realty Trust has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Essential Properties Realty Trust and Phillips Edison & Company, Inc., as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essential Properties Realty Trust	0	3	11	0	2.79
Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.	0	3	2	0	2.40

Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has a consensus target price of $34.91, indicating a potential upside of 7.78%. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has a consensus target price of $39.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.17%. Given Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. is more favorable than Essential Properties Realty Trust.

Summary

Essential Properties Realty Trust beats Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. on 13 of the 17 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 Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.

Phillips Edison & Co., Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the ownership and operation of shopping centers. It also offers an investment management business providing property management and advisory services. Its portfolio consists of well-occupied, grocery-anchored neighborhood and community shopping centers having a mix of national, regional, and local retailers offering necessity-based goods and services. The company was founded by Jeffrey S. Edison and Michael C. Phillips in 1991 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, OH.