Critical Analysis: True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:TUERF) and Orion Office REIT (NYSE:ONL)

Orion Office REIT (NYSE:ONL) and True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:TUERF) are both real estate companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Orion Office REIT and True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Orion Office REIT	-65.66%	-14.85%	-7.95%
True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Orion Office REIT and True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Orion Office REIT	1	0	1	0	2.00
True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust	0	0	0	0	0.00

Orion Office REIT currently has a consensus price target of $3.50, suggesting a potential upside of 26.81%. Given Orion Office REIT’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Orion Office REIT is more favorable than True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

79.9% of Orion Office REIT shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Orion Office REIT shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Orion Office REIT and True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Orion Office REIT	$147.65 million	1.06	-$139.31 million	($1.69)	-1.63
True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Orion Office REIT.

Summary

Orion Office REIT beats True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Orion Office REIT

Orion Office REIT specializes in the ownership, acquisition and management of a diversified portfolio of mission-critical and corporate headquarters office buildings in high-quality suburban markets across the U.S. The portfolio is leased primarily on a single-tenant net lease basis to creditworthy tenants. The company's team of experienced industry leaders employs a proven, cycle-tested investment evaluation framework which serves as the lens through which capital allocation decisions are made for the current portfolio and future acquisitions.

About True North Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust

The REIT is an unincorporated, open-ended real estate investment trust established under the laws of the Province of Ontario. The REIT currently owns and operates a portfolio of 44 commercial properties consisting of approximately 4.8 million square feet in urban and select strategic secondary markets across Canada focusing on long term leases with government and credit rated tenants. The REIT is focused on growing its portfolio principally through acquisitions across Canada and such other jurisdictions where opportunities exist.