Reviewing COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) & Kilroy Realty (NYSE:KRC)

Kilroy Realty (NYSE:KRC) and COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) are both mid-cap real estate companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Kilroy Realty pays an annual dividend of $2.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. COPT Defense Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Kilroy Realty pays out 900.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. COPT Defense Properties pays out 88.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Kilroy Realty and COPT Defense Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kilroy Realty	2	9	4	0	2.13
COPT Defense Properties	0	3	5	0	2.62

Kilroy Realty currently has a consensus target price of $38.62, suggesting a potential upside of 3.49%. COPT Defense Properties has a consensus target price of $38.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.80%. Given COPT Defense Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe COPT Defense Properties is more favorable than Kilroy Realty.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.2% of Kilroy Realty shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Kilroy Realty shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of COPT Defense Properties shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Kilroy Realty has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, COPT Defense Properties has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Kilroy Realty and COPT Defense Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kilroy Realty	2.63%	0.52%	0.27%
COPT Defense Properties	20.94%	10.48%	3.64%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Kilroy Realty and COPT Defense Properties”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kilroy Realty	$1.11 billion	3.90	$276.12 million	$0.24	155.47
COPT Defense Properties	$763.92 million	5.09	$152.32 million	$1.44	23.82

Kilroy Realty has higher revenue and earnings than COPT Defense Properties. COPT Defense Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kilroy Realty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

COPT Defense Properties beats Kilroy Realty on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kilroy Realty

Kilroy Realty Corporation (NYSE: KRC, the company, Kilroy) is a leading U.S. landlord and developer, with operations in San Diego, Greater Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Seattle and Austin. The company has earned global recognition for sustainability, building operations, innovation and design. As a pioneer and innovator in the creation of a more sustainable real estate industry, the company's approach to modern business environments helps drive creativity and productivity for some of the world's leading technology, entertainment, life science and business services companies. The company is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) and member of the S&P MidCap 400 Index with more than seven decades of experience developing, acquiring and managing office, life science and mixed-use projects. As of December 31, 2023, Kilroy's stabilized portfolio totaled approximately 17.0 million square feet of primarily office and life science space that was 85.0% occupied and 86.4% leased. The company also had approximately 1,000 residential units in Hollywood and San Diego, which had a quarterly average occupancy of 92.5%. In addition, the company had two in-process life science redevelopment projects totaling approximately 100,000 square feet with total estimated redevelopment costs of $80.0 million and one approximately 875,000 square foot in-process development project with a total estimated investment of $1.0 billion.

About COPT Defense Properties

COPT Defense Properties is a real estate investment trust. It acquires, develops, manages, sells, and leases out office properties and data centers. The firm operates through the following segments: Defense/Information Technology Locations, Regional Office, Wholesale Data Center, and Other. The company was founded on January 22,1988 and is headquartered in Columbia, MD.