Head to Head Analysis: Alexander’s (NYSE:ALX) and Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT)

Alexander’s (NYSE:ALX) and Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Alexander’s and Essential Properties Realty Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alexander’s	$213.18 million	5.78	$28.22 million	$33.05	7.30
Essential Properties Realty Trust	$561.22 million	9.76	$253.01 million	$1.29	19.63

Essential Properties Realty Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Alexander’s. Alexander’s 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.

Risk & Volatility

Alexander’s has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Essential Properties Realty Trust has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Alexander’s and Essential Properties Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alexander’s	1	1	1	0	2.00
Essential Properties Realty Trust	0	1	10	1	3.00

Alexander’s currently has a consensus price target of $212.00, suggesting a potential downside of 12.14%. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $35.20, suggesting a potential upside of 38.99%. Given Essential Properties Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Essential Properties Realty Trust is more favorable than Alexander’s.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

32.0% of Alexander’s shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.0% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 26.4% of Alexander’s shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alexander’s	79.06%	123.09%	14.43%
Essential Properties Realty Trust	43.51%	6.34%	3.81%

Dividends

Alexander’s pays an annual dividend of $18.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.5%. Essential Properties Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. Alexander’s pays out 54.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Essential Properties Realty Trust pays out 99.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Alexander’s has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Essential Properties Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Alexander’s is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Essential Properties Realty Trust beats Alexander’s on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alexander’s

Alexander’s, Inc. (NYSE: ALX) is a real estate investment trust (REIT), incorporated in Delaware, engaged in leasing, managing, developing and redeveloping its properties. All references to we, us, our, Company and Alexander’s refer to Alexander’s, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. We are managed by, and our properties are leased and developed by, Vornado Realty Trust (Vornado) (NYSE: VNO). We have five properties in New York City.

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.