Reviewing Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) and Seritage Growth Properties (NYSE:SRG)

Seritage Growth Properties (NYSE:SRG) and Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

78.9% of Seritage Growth Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.5% of Easterly Government Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Seritage Growth Properties shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Easterly Government Properties shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Seritage Growth Properties and Easterly Government Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seritage Growth Properties	1	0	0	0	1.00
Easterly Government Properties	1	3	1	0	2.00

Easterly Government Properties has a consensus price target of $23.49, suggesting a potential downside of 0.29%. Given Easterly Government Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Easterly Government Properties is more favorable than Seritage Growth Properties.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Seritage Growth Properties and Easterly Government Properties”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seritage Growth Properties	$18.20 million	8.12	-$68.21 million	($1.44)	-1.82
Easterly Government Properties	$336.10 million	3.26	$13.00 million	$0.24	98.16

Easterly Government Properties has higher revenue and earnings than Seritage Growth Properties. Seritage Growth 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seritage Growth Properties	-487.58%	-23.03%	-16.16%
Easterly Government Properties	3.22%	0.82%	0.33%

Volatility & Risk

Seritage Growth Properties has a beta of 2.21, indicating that its stock price is 121% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Easterly Government Properties has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Easterly Government Properties beats Seritage Growth Properties on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Seritage Growth Properties

Seritage Growth Properties operates as a real estate investment trust. The firm engages in the acquisition, ownership, development, redevelopment, management, and leasing of retail properties throughout the United States. Its property portfolio includes mall, shopping centers and freestanding locations. The company was founded on June 3, 2015 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

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).