Comparing Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:MHCUF) and Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS)

Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:MHCUF) and Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

96.5% of Essex Property Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 3.5% of Essex Property Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust and Essex Property Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A
Essex Property Trust	21.48%	7.33%	3.16%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust and Essex Property Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust	0	0	2	0	3.00
Essex Property Trust	1	9	12	1	2.57

Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust presently has a consensus target price of $24.50, suggesting a potential upside of 18.36%. Essex Property Trust has a consensus target price of $303.99, suggesting a potential upside of 6.33%. Given Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust is more favorable than Essex Property Trust.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust and Essex Property Trust”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Essex Property Trust	$1.93 billion	9.54	$669.67 million	$6.43	44.46

Essex Property Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust.

Summary

Essex Property Trust beats Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust

Flagship Communities Real Estate Investment Trust is an internally managed, unincorporated, open-ended real estate investment trust established pursuant to a declaration of trust under the laws of the Province of Ontario. The REIT has been formed to own and operate a portfolio of income-producing manufactured housing communities located in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois, including a fleet of manufactured homes for lease to residents of such housing communities.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc., an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.