American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT – Get Free Report) and Broadstone Net Lease (NYSE:BNL – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and risk.
Dividends
American Assets Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Broadstone Net Lease pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.2%. 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. Broadstone Net Lease pays out 120.8% 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 is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Profitability
This table compares American Assets Trust and Broadstone Net Lease’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| American Assets Trust | 12.00% | 4.62% | 1.78% |
| Broadstone Net Lease | 36.78% | 4.86% | 2.96% |
Risk and Volatility
Institutional and Insider Ownership
90.4% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.1% of Broadstone Net Lease shares are owned by institutional investors. 37.3% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Broadstone Net Lease shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares American Assets Trust and Broadstone Net Lease”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| American Assets Trust | $445.27 million | 3.81 | $64.69 million | $0.89 | 31.33 |
| Broadstone Net Lease | $425.82 million | 8.24 | $155.48 million | $0.96 | 19.39 |
Broadstone Net Lease has lower revenue, but higher earnings than American Assets Trust. Broadstone Net Lease 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.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for American Assets Trust and Broadstone Net Lease, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| American Assets Trust | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Broadstone Net Lease | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2.17 |
American Assets Trust presently has a consensus price target of $26.00, suggesting a potential downside of 6.74%. Broadstone Net Lease has a consensus price target of $18.00, suggesting a potential downside of 3.28%. Given Broadstone Net Lease’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Broadstone Net Lease is more favorable than American Assets Trust.
Summary
Broadstone Net Lease beats American Assets Trust on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
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.
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