Reviewing Stag Industrial (NYSE:STAG) and Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD)

Stag Industrial (NYSE:STAG) and Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Stag Industrial and Americold Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Stag Industrial	28.25%	6.80%	3.47%
Americold Realty Trust	-4.29%	-3.73%	-1.38%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Stag Industrial and Americold Realty Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Stag Industrial	$845.18 million	8.85	$273.52 million	$1.29	30.33
Americold Realty Trust	$2.60 billion	1.76	-$114.55 million	($0.39)	-41.21

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

Risk and Volatility

Stag Industrial has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Americold Realty Trust has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Stag Industrial and Americold Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Stag Industrial	1	6	3	0	2.20
Americold Realty Trust	4	8	4	0	2.00

Stag Industrial presently has a consensus price target of $40.40, suggesting a potential upside of 3.27%. Americold Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $14.79, suggesting a potential downside of 8.01%. Given Stag Industrial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Stag Industrial is more favorable than Americold Realty Trust.

Dividends

Stag Industrial pays an annual dividend of $1.55 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Americold Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. Stag Industrial pays out 120.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Americold Realty Trust pays out -235.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Stag Industrial has increased its dividend for 7 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.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

88.7% of Stag Industrial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.1% of Americold Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Stag Industrial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Americold Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Stag Industrial beats Americold Realty Trust on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Stag Industrial

STAG Industrial, Inc. is a real estate investment company, which engages in acquiring, owning, and managing single-tenant, industrial real estate assets. It offers industrial real estate operating platform to real estate ownership. The company was founded by Benjamin S. Butcher on July 21, 2010 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.

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.