Critical Contrast: Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX) and Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD)

Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX) and Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, valuation, risk and dividends.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brixmor Property Group	26.40%	11.72%	3.87%
Americold Realty Trust	-3.54%	-2.70%	-1.21%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.4% of Brixmor Property Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.1% of Americold Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Brixmor Property Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Americold Realty Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Brixmor Property Group has a beta of 1.58, meaning that its stock price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Americold Realty Trust has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Brixmor Property Group and Americold Realty Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brixmor Property Group	0	3	10	0	2.77
Americold Realty Trust	0	3	9	0	2.75

Brixmor Property Group currently has a consensus target price of $30.56, indicating a potential upside of 14.53%. Americold Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $29.17, indicating a potential upside of 28.69%. Given Americold Realty Trust’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Americold Realty Trust is more favorable than Brixmor Property Group.

Dividends

Brixmor Property Group pays an annual dividend of $1.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Americold Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Brixmor Property Group pays out 103.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Americold Realty Trust pays out -258.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Brixmor Property Group and Americold Realty Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brixmor Property Group	$1.29 billion	6.35	$339.27 million	$1.11	24.04
Americold Realty Trust	$2.67 billion	2.42	-$336.21 million	($0.34)	-66.66

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

Summary

Brixmor Property Group beats Americold Realty Trust on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Brixmor Property Group

Brixmor Property Group, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust, which engages in owning and operating a portfolio of grocery anchored community and neighborhood shopping centers. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

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.