COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP – Get Free Report) and American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and dividends.
Risk & Volatility
COPT Defense Properties has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Assets Trust has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings for COPT Defense Properties and American Assets Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| COPT Defense Properties | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2.63 |
| American Assets Trust | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
Dividends
COPT Defense Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. American Assets Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. COPT Defense Properties pays out -109.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Assets Trust pays out 150.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares COPT Defense Properties and American Assets Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| COPT Defense Properties | $684.98 million | 5.11 | -$73.47 million | ($1.08) | -28.80 |
| American Assets Trust | $445.27 million | 3.59 | $64.69 million | $0.89 | 29.48 |
American Assets Trust has lower revenue, but higher earnings than COPT Defense Properties. COPT Defense Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Assets Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares COPT Defense Properties and American Assets Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| COPT Defense Properties | -15.75% | -7.52% | -2.71% |
| American Assets Trust | 12.00% | 4.62% | 1.78% |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
90.4% of American Assets Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of COPT Defense Properties shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 37.3% of American Assets Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
American Assets Trust beats COPT Defense Properties on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About COPT Defense Properties
COPT Defense, an S&P MidCap 400 Company, is a self-managed REIT focused on owning, operating and developing properties in locations proximate to, or sometimes containing, key U.S. Government (USG) defense installations and missions (referred to as its Defense/IT Portfolio). The Company's tenants include the USG and their defense contractors, who are primarily engaged in priority national security activities, and who generally require mission-critical and high security property enhancements. As of December 31, 2023, the Company's Defense/IT Portfolio of 190 properties, including 24 owned through unconsolidated joint ventures, encompassed 21.7 million square feet and was 97.2% leased.
About American Assets Trust
American Assets Trust, Inc. is a full service, vertically integrated and self-administered real estate investment trust ("REIT"), headquartered in San Diego, California. The company has over 55 years of experience in acquiring, improving, developing and managing premier office, retail, and residential properties throughout the United States in some of the nation's most dynamic, high-barrier-to-entry markets primarily in Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Texas and Hawaii. The company's office portfolio comprises approximately 4.1 million rentable square feet, and its retail portfolio comprises approximately 3.1 million rentable square feet. In addition, the company owns one mixed-use property (including approximately 94,000 rentable square feet of retail space and a 369-room all-suite hotel) and 2,110 multifamily units. In 2011, the company was formed to succeed to the real estate business of American Assets, Inc., a privately held corporation founded in 1967 and, as such, has significant experience, long-standing relationships and extensive knowledge of its core markets, submarkets and asset classes.
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