Comparing Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) and InvenTrust Properties (NYSE:IVT)

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) and InvenTrust Properties (NYSE:IVT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Easterly Government Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.2%. InvenTrust Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Easterly Government Properties pays out 750.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. InvenTrust Properties pays out 70.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. InvenTrust Properties has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

86.5% of Easterly Government Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.7% of InvenTrust Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 6.5% of Easterly Government Properties shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of InvenTrust Properties shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Easterly Government Properties and InvenTrust Properties”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Easterly Government Properties	$336.10 million	3.48	$13.00 million	$0.24	104.79
InvenTrust Properties	$299.17 million	9.43	$111.42 million	$1.41	25.68

InvenTrust Properties has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Easterly Government Properties. InvenTrust Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Easterly Government Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Easterly Government Properties and InvenTrust Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Easterly Government Properties	1	3	1	0	2.00
InvenTrust Properties	0	1	4	2	3.14

Easterly Government Properties currently has a consensus target price of $23.49, indicating a potential downside of 6.60%. InvenTrust Properties has a consensus target price of $34.71, indicating a potential downside of 4.13%. Given InvenTrust Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe InvenTrust Properties is more favorable than Easterly Government Properties.

Profitability

This table compares Easterly Government Properties and InvenTrust Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Easterly Government Properties	3.22%	0.82%	0.33%
InvenTrust Properties	35.66%	6.10%	3.95%

Volatility & Risk

Easterly Government Properties has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, InvenTrust Properties has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

InvenTrust Properties beats Easterly Government Properties on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Easterly Government Properties

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE: DEA) is based in Washington, D.C., and focuses primarily on the acquisition, development and management of Class A commercial properties that are leased to the U.S. Government. Easterly’s experienced management team brings specialized insight into the strategy and needs of mission-critical U.S. Government agencies for properties leased to such agencies either directly or through the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).

About InvenTrust Properties

InvenTrust Properties Corp. (the “Company,” “IVT,” or “InvenTrust”) is a premier Sun Belt, multi-tenant essential retail REIT that owns, leases, redevelops, acquires and manages grocery-anchored neighborhood and community centers as well as high-quality power centers that often have a grocery component. Management pursues the Company’s business strategy by acquiring retail properties in Sun Belt markets, opportunistically disposing of retail properties, maintaining a flexible capital structure, and enhancing environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) practices and standards. A trusted, local operator bringing real estate expertise to its tenant relationships, IVT has built a strong reputation with market participants across its portfolio. IVT is committed to leadership in ESG practices and has been a Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (“GRESB”) member since 2013.