Easterly Government Properties (NYSE: DEA) and CBL & Associates Properties (NYSE:CBL) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitabiliy, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk and dividends.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
91.6% of Easterly Government Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.5% of CBL & Associates Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 18.1% of Easterly Government Properties shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.7% of CBL & Associates Properties shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Risk & Volatility
Easterly Government Properties has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CBL & Associates Properties has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Easterly Government Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. CBL & Associates Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.9%. Easterly Government Properties pays out 1,000.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. CBL & Associates Properties pays out 149.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. CBL & Associates Properties is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Profitability
This table compares Easterly Government Properties and CBL & Associates Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Easterly Government Properties | 3.46% | 0.56% | 0.37% |
| CBL & Associates Properties | 16.64% | 9.98% | 2.17% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Easterly Government Properties and CBL & Associates Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Easterly Government Properties | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.67 |
| CBL & Associates Properties | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2.10 |
Easterly Government Properties presently has a consensus target price of $21.83, suggesting a potential upside of 7.18%. CBL & Associates Properties has a consensus target price of $10.96, suggesting a potential upside of 22.78%. Given CBL & Associates Properties’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe CBL & Associates Properties is more favorable than Easterly Government Properties.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Easterly Government Properties and CBL & Associates Properties’ gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Easterly Government Properties | $110.53 million | 6.81 | $56.71 million | $0.10 | 203.72 |
| CBL & Associates Properties | $1.00 billion | 1.53 | $657.85 million | $0.71 | 12.58 |
CBL & Associates Properties has higher revenue and earnings than Easterly Government Properties. CBL & Associates Properties 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.
Summary
CBL & Associates Properties beats Easterly Government Properties on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Easterly Government Properties
Easterly Government Properties, Inc. is an internally managed real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company focuses on the acquisition, development and management of Class A commercial properties that are leased to the United States Government agencies. The Company leases its properties to such agencies through the United States General Services Administration (GSA). The operations of the Company are carried on primarily through Easterly Government Properties, LP and the subsidiaries of the Operating Partnership. As of December 31, 2016, it had 43 operating properties in the United States, including 40 operating properties that are leased primarily to the United States Government tenant agencies and three operating properties that are entirely leased to private tenants, encompassing approximately 3.1 million square feet in the aggregate. In addition, the Company had one property under development encompassing approximately 0.1 million square feet as of December 31, 2016.
About CBL & Associates Properties
CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. is a self-managed, self-administered, integrated real estate investment trust. The Company owns, develops, acquires, leases, manages and operates regional shopping malls, open-air and mixed-use centers, outlet centers, associated centers, community centers and office properties. Its segments are Malls, Associated Centers, Community Centers and All Other. As of December 31, 2016, the Company owned a controlling interest in 65 Malls and non-controlling interests in nine Malls. As of December 31, 2016, the Company owned a controlling interest in 20 Associated Centers and a non-controlling interest in three Associated Centers. As of December 31, 2016, the Company owned a controlling interest in four Community Centers and a non-controlling interest in five Community Centers. As of December 31, 2016, the Company’s properties were located in 27 states, primarily in the southeastern and mid-western United States.
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