Head-To-Head Analysis: Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) & Industrial Logistics Properties Trust (NASDAQ:ILPT)

Industrial Logistics Properties Trust (NASDAQ:ILPT) and Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

Industrial Logistics Properties Trust has a beta of 2.5, suggesting that its share price is 150% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Easterly Government Properties has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Industrial Logistics Properties Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Easterly Government Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.5%. Industrial Logistics Properties Trust pays out -24.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Easterly Government Properties pays out 750.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Industrial Logistics Properties Trust and Easterly Government Properties”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Industrial Logistics Properties Trust	$448.85 million	1.27	-$66.19 million	($0.82)	-10.42
Easterly Government Properties	$336.10 million	3.32	$13.00 million	$0.24	100.19

Easterly Government Properties has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Industrial Logistics Properties Trust. Industrial Logistics Properties Trust 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.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

49.1% of Industrial Logistics Properties Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.5% of Easterly Government Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 2.3% of Industrial Logistics Properties Trust 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, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Industrial Logistics Properties Trust and Easterly Government Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Industrial Logistics Properties Trust	-11.93%	-5.93%	-1.04%
Easterly Government Properties	3.22%	0.82%	0.33%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Industrial Logistics Properties Trust and Easterly Government Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Industrial Logistics Properties Trust	1	0	1	1	2.67
Easterly Government Properties	1	3	1	0	2.00

Industrial Logistics Properties Trust presently has a consensus target price of $7.40, indicating a potential downside of 13.37%. Easterly Government Properties has a consensus target price of $23.49, indicating a potential downside of 2.31%. Given Easterly Government Properties’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Easterly Government Properties is more favorable than Industrial Logistics Properties Trust.

Summary

Easterly Government Properties beats Industrial Logistics Properties Trust on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Industrial Logistics Properties Trust

Industrial Logistics Properties Trust (Nasdaq: ILPT) is a real estate investment trust, or REIT, focused on owning and leasing high quality distribution and logistics properties. As of December 31, 2023, ILPT's portfolio consisted of 411 properties containing approximately 60 million rentable square feet located in 39 states. Approximately 77% of ILPT's annualized rental revenues as of December 31, 2023 are derived from investment grade tenants, tenants that are subsidiaries of investment grade rated entities or Hawaii land leases. ILPT is managed by The RMR Group (Nasdaq: RMR), a leading U.S. alternative asset management company with over $41 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2023 and more than 35 years of institutional experience in buying, selling, financing and operating commercial real estate. ILPT is headquartered in Newton, MA.

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).