Duke Realty (NYSE:DRE) and Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE:WRE) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and dividends.
Profitability
This table compares Duke Realty and Washington Real Estate Investment Trust's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
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Duke Realty | 22.76% | 4.30% | 2.54% |
Washington Real Estate Investment Trust | 123.40% | 3.10% | 1.61% |
Volatility and Risk
Duke Realty has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Washington Real Estate Investment Trust has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Duke Realty and Washington Real Estate Investment Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
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Duke Realty | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 2.73 |
Washington Real Estate Investment Trust | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.20 |
Duke Realty presently has a consensus price target of $40.50, suggesting a potential upside of 2.14%. Washington Real Estate Investment Trust has a consensus price target of $23.20, suggesting a potential upside of 1.35%. Given Duke Realty's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Duke Realty is more favorable than Washington Real Estate Investment Trust.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
96.6% of Duke Realty shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.4% of Washington Real Estate Investment Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Duke Realty shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Washington Real Estate Investment Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Dividends
Duke Realty pays an annual dividend of $1.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Washington Real Estate Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Duke Realty pays out 70.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Washington Real Estate Investment Trust pays out 72.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Duke Realty has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years and Washington Real Estate Investment Trust has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Duke Realty and Washington Real Estate Investment Trust's revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
---|
Duke Realty | $973.76 million | 15.22 | $428.97 million | $1.44 | 27.53 |
Washington Real Estate Investment Trust | $309.18 million | 6.26 | $383.55 million | $1.66 | 13.79 |
Duke Realty has higher revenue and earnings than Washington Real Estate Investment Trust. Washington Real Estate Investment Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Duke Realty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Duke Realty beats Washington Real Estate Investment Trust on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.