Financial Survey: American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) versus Generation Income Properties (NASDAQ:GIPR)

American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) and Generation Income Properties (NASDAQ:GIPR) are both small-cap real estate companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares American Assets Trust and Generation Income Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Assets Trust	4.09%	1.66%	0.62%
Generation Income Properties	-102.07%	N/A	-8.90%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares American Assets Trust and Generation Income Properties”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Assets Trust	$436.20 million	3.17	$71.37 million	$0.29	77.53
Generation Income Properties	$9.74 million	0.05	-$10.34 million	($18.10)	-0.04

American Assets Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Generation Income Properties. Generation Income Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Assets Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for American Assets Trust and Generation Income Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Assets Trust	1	2	0	0	1.67
Generation Income Properties	1	0	0	0	1.00

American Assets Trust currently has a consensus target price of $21.50, indicating a potential downside of 4.38%. Given American Assets Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe American Assets Trust is more favorable than Generation Income Properties.

Volatility and Risk

American Assets Trust has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Generation Income Properties has a beta of 0.3, meaning that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

90.4% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.7% of Generation Income Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 37.9% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of Generation Income Properties shares are owned by company 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.

Summary

American Assets Trust beats Generation Income Properties on 13 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Assets Trust

American Assets Trust, Inc. is a full service, vertically integrated and self-administered real estate investment trust ("REIT"), headquartered in San Diego, California. The company has over 55 years of experience in acquiring, improving, developing and managing premier office, retail, and residential properties throughout the United States in some of the nation's most dynamic, high-barrier-to-entry markets primarily in Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Texas and Hawaii. The company's office portfolio comprises approximately 4.1 million rentable square feet, and its retail portfolio comprises approximately 3.1 million rentable square feet. In addition, the company owns one mixed-use property (including approximately 94,000 rentable square feet of retail space and a 369-room all-suite hotel) and 2,110 multifamily units. In 2011, the company was formed to succeed to the real estate business of American Assets, Inc., a privately held corporation founded in 1967 and, as such, has significant experience, long-standing relationships and extensive knowledge of its core markets, submarkets and asset classes.

About Generation Income Properties

Generation Income Properties, Inc., located in Tampa, Florida, is an internally managed real estate investment trust formed to acquire and own, directly and jointly, real estate investments focused on retail, office, and industrial net lease properties in densely populated submarkets.