BRT Apartments (NYSE:BRT) versus First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey (OTCMKTS:FREVS) Critical Review

First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey (OTCMKTS:FREVS) and BRT Apartments (NYSE:BRT) are both real estate companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

29.1% of BRT Apartments shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.0% of First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 42.2% of BRT Apartments shares are owned 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.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey and BRT Apartments”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.69	12.59
BRT Apartments	$97.03 million	2.89	-$11.95 million	($0.70)	-21.34

First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey has higher earnings, but lower revenue than BRT Apartments. BRT Apartments is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.3%. BRT Apartments pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.7%. First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey pays out 92.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. BRT Apartments pays out -142.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey and BRT Apartments, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey	0	0	0	0	0.00
BRT Apartments	1	1	3	0	2.40

BRT Apartments has a consensus price target of $19.75, suggesting a potential upside of 32.24%. Given BRT Apartments’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe BRT Apartments is more favorable than First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey.

Profitability

This table compares First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey and BRT Apartments’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey	N/A	N/A	N/A
BRT Apartments	-13.22%	-7.46%	-1.84%

Summary

BRT Apartments beats First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey

First Real Estate Investment Trust of New Jersey, Inc. is a publicly traded (over-the-counter symbol FREVS) REIT organized in 1961. Its portfolio of residential and commercial properties are located in New Jersey and New York, with the largest concentration in northern New Jersey.

About BRT Apartments

BRT Apartments Corp. is a real estate investment trust. It engages in the ownership, operation, and holding interests in joint ventures that own and operate multi-family properties. The company was founded in June 1972 and is headquartered in Great Neck, NY.