EastGroup Properties (EGP) Competitors

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) and Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, media sentiment, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and profitability.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, EGP or EPRT?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
EastGroup Properties	$640.23M	13.94	$227.75M	$4.57	37.17
Essential Properties Realty Trust	$475.46M	13.31	$203M	$1.15	27.87

Is EGP or EPRT more profitable?

Essential Properties Realty Trust has a net margin of 44.62% compared to EastGroup Properties' net margin of 34.60%. EastGroup Properties' return on equity of 7.41% beat Essential Properties Realty Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
EastGroup Properties	34.60%	7.41%	4.62%
Essential Properties Realty Trust	44.62%	6.13%	3.75%

Is EGP or EPRT a better dividend stock?

EastGroup Properties pays an annual dividend of $5.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Essential Properties Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. EastGroup Properties pays out 122.5% 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 104.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. EastGroup Properties has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Essential Properties Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Essential Properties Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media refer more to EGP or EPRT?

In the previous week, EastGroup Properties had 2 more articles in the media than Essential Properties Realty Trust. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for EastGroup Properties and 5 mentions for Essential Properties Realty Trust. Essential Properties Realty Trust's average media sentiment score of 0.93 beat EastGroup Properties' score of 0.84 indicating that Essential Properties Realty Trust is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
EastGroup Properties	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Essential Properties Realty Trust	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer EGP or EPRT?

EastGroup Properties currently has a consensus target price of $188.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.67%. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $35.06, suggesting a potential upside of 9.38%. Given EastGroup Properties' higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe EastGroup Properties is more favorable than Essential Properties Realty Trust.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
EastGroup Properties	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64
Essential Properties Realty Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.77

Which has more risk & volatility, EGP or EPRT?

EastGroup Properties has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Essential Properties Realty Trust has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in EGP or EPRT?

92.1% of EastGroup Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.0% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of EastGroup Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

EastGroup Properties beats Essential Properties Realty Trust on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.