SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:CWYUF – Get Free Report) and Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and profitability.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
97.0% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 20.9% of SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent recommendations for SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust and Essential Properties Realty Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.00 |
| Essential Properties Realty Trust | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 3.00 |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust and Essential Properties 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 | |
| SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust | $654.07 million | 5.20 | $180.22 million | $1.23 | 15.49 |
| Essential Properties Realty Trust | $561.22 million | 11.36 | $253.01 million | $1.28 | 23.74 |
Essential Properties Realty Trust has lower revenue, but higher earnings than SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust 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.
Volatility & Risk
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Essential Properties Realty Trust has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.1%. Essential Properties Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust pays out 110.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Essential Properties Realty Trust pays out 96.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Essential Properties Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years.
Profitability
This table compares SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust and Essential Properties Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust | 38.27% | 5.01% | 2.62% |
| Essential Properties Realty Trust | 45.08% | 6.44% | 3.92% |
Summary
Essential Properties Realty Trust beats SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About SmartCentres Real Estate Investment Trust
SmartCentres is one of Canada’s largest fully integrated REITs, with a best-in-class and growing mixed-use portfolio featuring 191 strategically located properties in communities across the country. SmartCentres has approximately $12.0 billion in assets and owns 35.0 million square feet of income producing value-oriented retail and first-class office properties with 98.5% in place and committed occupancy, on 3,500 acres of owned land across Canada.
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.
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