Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) versus LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE:LXP) Critical Survey

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) and LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE:LXP) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Equity Residential and LXP Industrial Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equity Residential	33.22%	9.05%	4.85%
LXP Industrial Trust	24.07%	4.34%	2.30%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Equity Residential and LXP Industrial Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equity Residential	0	7	6	0	2.46
LXP Industrial Trust	0	2	2	0	2.50

Equity Residential currently has a consensus price target of $75.96, suggesting a potential upside of 14.25%. LXP Industrial Trust has a consensus price target of $10.33, suggesting a potential upside of 12.22%. Given Equity Residential’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Equity Residential is more favorable than LXP Industrial Trust.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

92.7% of Equity Residential shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of LXP Industrial Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Equity Residential shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of LXP Industrial Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Equity Residential pays an annual dividend of $2.77 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. LXP Industrial Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.54 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.9%. Equity Residential pays out 104.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. LXP Industrial Trust pays out 192.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Equity Residential has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and LXP Industrial Trust has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Equity Residential and LXP Industrial Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equity Residential	$2.98 billion	8.52	$1.04 billion	$2.65	25.09
LXP Industrial Trust	$358.46 million	7.60	$44.53 million	$0.28	32.89

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

Volatility & Risk

Equity Residential has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LXP Industrial Trust has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Equity Residential beats LXP Industrial Trust on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Equity Residential

Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract affluent long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 305 properties consisting of 80,683 apartment units, with an established presence in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, and an expanding presence in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Austin.

About LXP Industrial Trust

LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE: LXP) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on single-tenant industrial real estate investments across the United States. LXP seeks to expand its industrial portfolio through acquisitions, build-to-suit transactions, sale-leaseback transactions, development projects and other transactions.