Critical Survey: Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) & Terreno Realty (NYSE:TRNO)

Terreno Realty (NYSE:TRNO) and Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) are both mid-cap real estate companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, earnings and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Terreno Realty and Americold Realty Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Terreno Realty	$476.38 million	14.78	$402.99 million	$3.73	17.32
Americold Realty Trust	$2.60 billion	1.53	-$114.55 million	($1.59)	-8.79

Terreno Realty has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Americold Realty Trust. Americold Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Terreno Realty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Terreno Realty and Americold Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Terreno Realty	77.22%	9.21%	7.07%
Americold Realty Trust	-17.44%	-16.14%	-5.68%

Volatility & Risk

Terreno Realty has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Americold Realty Trust has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Terreno Realty and Americold Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Terreno Realty	2	4	7	1	2.50
Americold Realty Trust	2	10	4	0	2.12

Terreno Realty presently has a consensus target price of $73.71, indicating a potential upside of 14.09%. Americold Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $15.90, indicating a potential upside of 13.76%. Given Terreno Realty’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Terreno Realty is more favorable than Americold Realty Trust.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.1% of Americold Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Terreno Realty shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Americold Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Terreno Realty pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Americold Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.6%. Terreno Realty pays out 55.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Americold Realty Trust pays out -57.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Terreno Realty has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Americold Realty Trust has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Americold Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Terreno Realty beats Americold Realty Trust on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Terreno Realty

Terreno Realty Corporation (Terreno, and together with its subsidiaries, the Company) acquires, owns and operates industrial real estate in six major coastal U.S. markets: Los Angeles, Northern New Jersey/New York City, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Miami, and Washington, D.C. All square feet, acres, occupancy and number of properties disclosed in these notes to the consolidated financial statements are unaudited. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned 259 buildings aggregating approximately 16.0 million square feet, 45 improved land parcels consisting of approximately 152.4 acres, seven properties under development or redevelopment and approximately 62.7 acres of land entitled for future development. The Company is an internally managed Maryland corporation and elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) under Sections 856 through 860 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), commencing with its taxable year ended December 31, 2010.

About Americold Realty Trust

Americold Realty Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which focuses on the ownership, operation, development, and acquisition of temperature-controlled warehouses. It operates through the following segments: Warehouse, Third-Party Managed, Transportation, and Other. The Warehouse segment collects rent and storage fees from customers to store frozen and perishable food and other products within the firm’s real estate portfolio. The Third-Party Managed segment manages warehouses on behalf of third parties and provides warehouse management services to food retailers and manufacturers in customer-owned facilities. The Transportation segment is involved in brokering and managing transportation of frozen and perishable food and other products. The Other segment includes ownership in a limestone quarry in Carthage, Missouri. The company was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.