Financial Contrast: Plymouth Industrial REIT (NYSE:PLYM) vs. EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP)

Plymouth Industrial REIT (NYSE:PLYM) and EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

Plymouth Industrial REIT has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EastGroup Properties has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Plymouth Industrial REIT and EastGroup Properties”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Plymouth Industrial REIT	$198.35 million	4.95	$139.34 million	$2.88	7.66
EastGroup Properties	$640.23 million	14.92	$227.75 million	$4.63	38.68

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Plymouth Industrial REIT and EastGroup Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Plymouth Industrial REIT	1	9	1	0	2.00
EastGroup Properties	0	7	7	1	2.60

Plymouth Industrial REIT currently has a consensus price target of $21.89, suggesting a potential downside of 0.75%. EastGroup Properties has a consensus price target of $188.31, suggesting a potential upside of 5.15%. Given EastGroup Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe EastGroup Properties is more favorable than Plymouth Industrial REIT.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.7% of Plymouth Industrial REIT shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.1% of EastGroup Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Plymouth Industrial REIT shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of EastGroup Properties shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Plymouth Industrial REIT and EastGroup Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Plymouth Industrial REIT	67.77%	24.24%	8.90%
EastGroup Properties	34.85%	7.29%	4.67%

Dividends

Plymouth Industrial REIT pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. EastGroup Properties pays an annual dividend of $6.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Plymouth Industrial REIT pays out 33.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. EastGroup Properties pays out 133.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. EastGroup Properties has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Plymouth Industrial REIT is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

EastGroup Properties beats Plymouth Industrial REIT on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Plymouth Industrial REIT

Plymouth Industrial REIT, Inc. (NYSE: PLYM) is a full service, vertically integrated real estate investment company focused on the acquisition, ownership and management of single and multi-tenant industrial properties. Our mission is to provide tenants with cost effective space that is functional, flexible and safe.

About EastGroup Properties

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE: EGP), a member of the S&P Mid-Cap 400 and Russell 1000 Indexes, is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust focused on the development, acquisition and operation of industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States with an emphasis in the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona, California and North Carolina. The Company's goal is to maximize shareholder value by being a leading provider in its markets of functional, flexible and quality business distribution space for location sensitive customers (primarily in the 20,000 to 100,000 square foot range). The Company's strategy for growth is based on ownership of premier distribution facilities generally clustered near major transportation features in supply-constrained submarkets. The Company's portfolio, including development projects and value-add acquisitions in lease-up and under construction, currently includes approximately 59 million square feet.