Critical Comparison: VICI Properties (NYSE:VICI) & Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT)

VICI Properties (NYSE:VICI) and Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for VICI Properties and Franklin BSP Realty Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
VICI Properties	0	3	8	0	2.73
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	0	0	5	2	3.29

VICI Properties currently has a consensus price target of $35.18, indicating a potential upside of 9.59%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $15.30, indicating a potential upside of 41.40%. Given Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Franklin BSP Realty Trust is more favorable than VICI Properties.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.7% of VICI Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.9% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of VICI Properties shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

VICI Properties has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares VICI Properties and Franklin BSP Realty Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
VICI Properties	$3.88 billion	8.74	$2.51 billion	$2.50	12.84
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	$534.36 million	1.66	$95.88 million	$0.68	15.91

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

Dividends

VICI Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.73 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.1%. VICI Properties pays out 69.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Franklin BSP Realty Trust pays out 208.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. VICI Properties has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares VICI Properties and Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VICI Properties	69.59%	10.24%	6.02%
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	45.56%	8.17%	1.70%

Summary

VICI Properties beats Franklin BSP Realty Trust on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About VICI Properties

VICI Properties Inc. is an S&P 500 experiential real estate investment trust that owns one of the largest portfolios of market-leading gaming, hospitality and entertainment destinations, including Caesars Palace Las Vegas, MGM Grand and the Venetian Resort Las Vegas, three of the most iconic entertainment facilities on the Las Vegas Strip. VICI Properties owns 93 experiential assets across a geographically diverse portfolio consisting of 54 gaming properties and 39 other experiential properties across the United States and Canada. The portfolio is comprised of approximately 127 million square feet and features approximately 60,300 hotel rooms and over 500 restaurants, bars, nightclubs and sportsbooks. Its properties are occupied by industry-leading gaming, leisure and hospitality operators under long-term, triple-net lease agreements. VICI Properties has a growing array of real estate and financing partnerships with leading operators in other experiential sectors, including Bowlero, Cabot, Canyon Ranch, Chelsea Piers, Great Wolf Resorts, Homefield, and Kalahari Resorts. VICI Properties also owns four championship golf courses and 33 acres of undeveloped and underdeveloped land adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip. VICI Properties’ goal is to create the highest quality and most productive experiential real estate portfolio through a strategy of partnering with the highest quality experiential place makers and operators.

About Franklin BSP Realty Trust

Benefit Street Partners operates as a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). BSP earns income from investing in a leveraged portfolio of residential mortgage pass-through securities consisting almost exclusively of adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) securities issued and guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises, either Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (together, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)), or by an agency of the federal government, Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae). BSP’s investment strategy focuses on managing a portfolio of residential mortgage investments consisting almost exclusively of ARM Agency Securities. As of December 31, 2012, the Company’s securities consisted of Agency Securities classified as available-for-sale and Residential mortgage securities classified as held-to-maturity.