Head to Head Comparison: Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) vs. Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD)

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) and Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

Alexandria Real Estate Equities has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Americold Realty Trust has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

96.5% of Alexandria Real Estate Equities shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.1% of Americold Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Alexandria Real Estate Equities shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Americold Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Americold Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alexandria Real Estate Equities	-47.23%	-6.82%	-3.90%
Americold Realty Trust	-4.40%	-3.71%	-1.43%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Americold Realty Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alexandria Real Estate Equities	$3.03 billion	2.80	-$1.43 billion	($8.44)	-5.80
Americold Realty Trust	$2.60 billion	1.42	-$114.55 million	($0.40)	-32.34

Americold Realty Trust has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Alexandria Real Estate Equities. Americold Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alexandria Real Estate Equities, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Alexandria Real Estate Equities pays an annual dividend of $2.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.9%. Americold Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.1%. Alexandria Real Estate Equities pays out -34.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Americold Realty Trust pays out -230.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years and Americold Realty Trust has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Americold Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Americold Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alexandria Real Estate Equities	2	12	3	0	2.06
Americold Realty Trust	3	10	4	0	2.06

Alexandria Real Estate Equities presently has a consensus target price of $63.67, suggesting a potential upside of 30.05%. Americold Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $14.30, suggesting a potential upside of 10.55%. Given Alexandria Real Estate Equities’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Alexandria Real Estate Equities is more favorable than Americold Realty Trust.

Summary

Americold Realty Trust beats Alexandria Real Estate Equities on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alexandria Real Estate Equities

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), an S&P 500 company, is a best-in-class, mission-driven life science REIT making a positive and lasting impact on the world. As the pioneer of the life science real estate niche since our founding in 1994, Alexandria is the preeminent and longest-tenured owner, operator, and developer of collaborative life science, agtech, and advanced technology mega campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, including Greater Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle. Alexandria has a total market capitalization of $33.1 billion and an asset base in North America of 73.5 million SF as of December 31, 2023, which includes 42.0 million RSF of operating properties, 5.5 million RSF of Class A/A+ properties undergoing construction and one near-term project expected to commence construction in the next two years, 2.1 million RSF of priority anticipated development and redevelopment projects, and 23.9 million SF of future development projects. Alexandria has a longstanding and proven track record of developing Class A/A+ properties clustered in life science, agtech, and advanced technology mega campuses that provide our innovative tenants with highly dynamic and collaborative environments that enhance their ability to successfully recruit and retain world-class talent and inspire productivity, efficiency, creativity, and success. Alexandria also provides strategic capital to transformative life science, agrifoodtech, climate innovation, and technology companies through our venture capital platform. We believe our unique business model and diligent underwriting ensure a high-quality and diverse tenant base that results in higher occupancy levels, longer lease terms, higher rental income, higher returns, and greater long-term asset value.

About Americold Realty Trust

Americold Realty Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which focuses on the ownership, operation, development, and acquisition of temperature-controlled warehouses. It operates through the following segments: Warehouse, Third-Party Managed, Transportation, and Other. The Warehouse segment collects rent and storage fees from customers to store frozen and perishable food and other products within the firm’s real estate portfolio. The Third-Party Managed segment manages warehouses on behalf of third parties and provides warehouse management services to food retailers and manufacturers in customer-owned facilities. The Transportation segment is involved in brokering and managing transportation of frozen and perishable food and other products. The Other segment includes ownership in a limestone quarry in Carthage, Missouri. The company was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.