Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) & Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) Head-To-Head Survey

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) and Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) are both mid-cap real estate companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and earnings.

Dividends

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. pays an annual dividend of $1.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Federal Realty Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $4.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. pays out 95.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Federal Realty Investment Trust pays out 92.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Federal Realty Investment Trust has raised its dividend for 58 consecutive years. Federal Realty Investment Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. and Federal Realty Investment Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.	$726.59 million	7.12	$111.30 million	$1.44	27.92
Federal Realty Investment Trust	$1.28 billion	7.59	$411.08 million	$5.00	22.58

Federal Realty Investment Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.. Federal Realty Investment Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Phillips Edison & Company, Inc., indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. and Federal Realty Investment Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.	23.87%	6.90%	3.36%
Federal Realty Investment Trust	32.60%	13.76%	4.85%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

80.7% of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of Federal Realty Investment Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.1% of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Federal Realty Investment Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Federal Realty Investment Trust has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. and Federal Realty Investment Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.	0	7	3	0	2.30
Federal Realty Investment Trust	0	6	9	1	2.69

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. presently has a consensus price target of $43.20, indicating a potential upside of 7.44%. Federal Realty Investment Trust has a consensus price target of $124.88, indicating a potential upside of 10.62%. Given Federal Realty Investment Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Federal Realty Investment Trust is more favorable than Phillips Edison & Company, Inc..

Summary

Federal Realty Investment Trust beats Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. on 16 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.

Phillips Edison & Co., Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the ownership and operation of shopping centers. It also offers an investment management business providing property management and advisory services. Its portfolio consists of well-occupied, grocery-anchored neighborhood and community shopping centers having a mix of national, regional, and local retailers offering necessity-based goods and services. The company was founded by Jeffrey S. Edison and Michael C. Phillips in 1991 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, OH.

About Federal Realty Investment Trust

Federal Realty Investment Trust is an equity real estate investment trust, which engages in the provision of ownership, management, and redevelopment of retail and mixed-use properties located primarily in communities where demand exceeds supply in strategically selected metropolitan markets. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in North Bethesda, MD.