Contrasting Broadstone Net Lease (NYSE:BNL) & Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT)

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) and Broadstone Net Lease (NYSE:BNL) are both mid-cap real estate companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

Essential Properties Realty Trust has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Broadstone Net Lease has a beta of 0.92, indicating that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Essential Properties Realty Trust and Broadstone Net Lease”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Essential Properties Realty Trust	$561.22 million	11.81	$253.01 million	$1.29	23.75
Broadstone Net Lease	$454.14 million	8.89	$96.50 million	$0.76	27.70

Essential Properties Realty Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Broadstone Net Lease. Essential Properties Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Broadstone Net Lease, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.0% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.1% of Broadstone Net Lease shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Broadstone Net Lease shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Essential Properties Realty Trust and Broadstone Net Lease’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essential Properties Realty Trust	43.51%	6.34%	3.81%
Broadstone Net Lease	30.61%	4.83%	2.54%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Essential Properties Realty Trust and Broadstone Net Lease, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essential Properties Realty Trust	0	0	11	1	3.08
Broadstone Net Lease	0	4	7	0	2.64

Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has a consensus target price of $36.20, suggesting a potential upside of 18.16%. Broadstone Net Lease has a consensus target price of $22.78, suggesting a potential upside of 8.21%. Given Essential Properties Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Essential Properties Realty Trust is more favorable than Broadstone Net Lease.

Dividends

Essential Properties Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Broadstone Net Lease pays an annual dividend of $1.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Essential Properties Realty Trust pays out 99.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Broadstone Net Lease pays out 153.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Essential Properties Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years and Broadstone Net Lease has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Summary

Essential Properties Realty Trust beats Broadstone Net Lease on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc., a real estate company, acquires, owns, and manages single-tenant properties in the United States. The company leases its properties to middle-market companies, such as restaurants, car washes, automotive services, medical and dental services, convenience stores, equipment rental, entertainment, early childhood education, grocery, and health and fitness on a long-term basis. As of December 31, 2021, it had a portfolio of 1, 451 properties. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It generally would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey.

About Broadstone Net Lease

Broadstone Net Lease, Inc. (the Corporation) is a Maryland corporation formed on October 18, 2007, that elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) commencing with the taxable year ended December 31, 2008. Broadstone Net Lease, LLC (the Corporation’s operating company, or the OP), is the entity through which the Corporation conducts its business and owns (either directly or through subsidiaries) all of the Corporation’s properties. The Corporation is the sole managing member of the OP. The membership units not owned by the Corporation are referred to as OP Units or non-controlling interests. As the Corporation conducts substantially all of its operations through the OP, it is structured as what is referred to as an umbrella partnership real estate investment trust (UPREIT). The Corporation’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BNL.