Acadia Realty Trust (NYSE: AKR) and National Retail Properties (NYSE:NNN) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk and profitability.
Risk and Volatility
Acadia Realty Trust has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Retail Properties has a beta of 0.38, indicating that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Acadia Realty Trust and National Retail Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Acadia Realty Trust | 23.63% | 2.50% | 1.37% |
| National Retail Properties | 44.17% | 8.22% | 4.03% |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Acadia Realty Trust and National Retail Properties’ revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Acadia Realty Trust | $251.17 million | 9.61 | $140.01 million | $0.64 | 45.06 |
| National Retail Properties | $562.72 million | 10.59 | $500.46 million | $1.33 | 30.02 |
National Retail Properties has higher revenue and earnings than Acadia Realty Trust. National Retail Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Acadia Realty Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
89.8% of National Retail Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Acadia Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of National Retail Properties shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Dividends
Acadia Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. National Retail Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Acadia Realty Trust pays out 162.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. National Retail Properties pays out 142.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Acadia Realty Trust has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and National Retail Properties has increased its dividend for 7 consecutive years. National Retail Properties is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Acadia Realty Trust and National Retail Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Acadia Realty Trust | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2.60 |
| National Retail Properties | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.50 |
Acadia Realty Trust currently has a consensus price target of $33.50, suggesting a potential upside of 16.16%. National Retail Properties has a consensus price target of $48.50, suggesting a potential upside of 21.49%. Given National Retail Properties’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe National Retail Properties is more favorable than Acadia Realty Trust.
Summary
National Retail Properties beats Acadia Realty Trust on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
Acadia Realty Trust Company Profile
Acadia Realty Trust is a real estate investment trust. The Company is focused on the ownership, acquisition, development and management of retail properties located in the United States. It operates through three segments: Core Portfolio, Funds and Structured Financing. Core Portfolio and Fund properties primarily consist of street and urban retail, and dense suburban shopping centers. Funds holds primarily retail real estate in which it co-invests with institutional investors. Structured Financing consists of earnings and expenses related to notes and mortgages receivable, which are held within the Core Portfolio or the Funds. As of December 31, 2016, it had ownership interests in 182 properties within its core portfolio. In the Core Portfolio segment, the Company owned an interest in a 311,000 square foot shopping center, a 28,000 square foot retail and an interest in an 87,000 square foot retail property, among others, as of December 31, 2016.
National Retail Properties Company Profile
National Retail Properties, Inc. is a real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company acquires, owns, invests in and develops properties that are leased primarily to retail tenants under long-term net leases and are primarily held for investment. As of December 31, 2016, it owned 2,535 properties with an aggregate gross leasable area of approximately 27,204,000 square feet, located in 48 states. The Company focuses on investing in a range of property and tenant types; leases, mortgages and other types of real estate interests; loans secured by personal property; loans secured by partnership or membership interests in partnerships or limited liability companies, and securities of other REITs, or other issuers, including for the purpose of exercising control over such entities. The Company owns a portfolio of freestanding retail stores across the United States. It owns approximately 2,290 stores, which are leased to over 400 tenants in approximately 40 different retail categories.
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