EPR Properties (EPR) & Its Competitors Critical Survey

EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) is one of 35 publicly-traded companies in the “Specialized REITs” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare EPR Properties to related businesses based on the strength of its profitability, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for EPR Properties and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
EPR Properties	0	5	8	0	2.62
EPR Properties Competitors	520	2788	3668	191	2.49

EPR Properties currently has a consensus target price of $65.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.98%. As a group, “Specialized REITs” companies have a potential upside of 12.84%. Given EPR Properties’ competitors higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe EPR Properties has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares EPR Properties and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
EPR Properties	38.83%	12.78%	5.03%
EPR Properties Competitors	-5.31%	-3.47%	1.99%

Risk & Volatility

EPR Properties has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EPR Properties’ competitors have a beta of 0.92, suggesting that their average stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

EPR Properties pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. EPR Properties pays out 105.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Specialized REITs” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.3% and pay out 119.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. EPR Properties has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. EPR Properties is clearly a better dividend stock than its competitors, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

74.7% of EPR Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.0% of shares of all “Specialized REITs” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of EPR Properties shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.5% of shares of all “Specialized REITs” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares EPR Properties and its competitors revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
EPR Properties	$718.36 million	$274.94 million	17.30
EPR Properties Competitors	$2.58 billion	$596.00 million	31.83

EPR Properties’ competitors have higher revenue and earnings than EPR Properties. EPR Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

EPR Properties beats its competitors on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

EPR Properties Company Profile

EPR Properties is a real estate investment trust focused on experiential properties—places where people gather for recreation, entertainment and education. The company invests in and leases properties to operators, generally through long-term agreements. Its portfolio includes movie theaters, amusement and water parks, ski resorts, golf and other entertainment venues, and educational facilities such as private schools and early childhood education centers. EPR groups its investments into entertainment, recreation and education categories.