Comparing Broadstone Net Lease (NYSE:BNL) and KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF)

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) and Broadstone Net Lease (NYSE:BNL) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Risk and Volatility

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Broadstone Net Lease has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

70.2% of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.1% of Broadstone Net Lease shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Broadstone Net Lease shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares KKR Real Estate Finance Trust and Broadstone Net Lease”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust	$166.66 million	5.01	-$30.85 million	($0.46)	-26.17
Broadstone Net Lease	$425.82 million	8.28	$155.48 million	$0.96	19.49

Broadstone Net Lease has higher revenue and earnings than KKR Real Estate Finance Trust. KKR Real Estate Finance 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for KKR Real Estate Finance Trust and Broadstone Net Lease, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust	0	1	6	0	2.86
Broadstone Net Lease	1	3	2	0	2.17

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust presently has a consensus target price of $12.50, indicating a potential upside of 3.82%. Broadstone Net Lease has a consensus target price of $18.25, indicating a potential downside of 2.46%. Given KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe KKR Real Estate Finance Trust is more favorable than Broadstone Net Lease.

Profitability

This table compares KKR Real Estate Finance Trust and Broadstone Net Lease’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust	5.88%	9.88%	1.90%
Broadstone Net Lease	36.78%	4.86%	2.96%

Dividends

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.3%. Broadstone Net Lease pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.2%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust pays out -217.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Broadstone Net Lease beats KKR Real Estate Finance Trust on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc., a mortgage real estate investment trust, focuses primarily on originating and acquiring transitional senior loans secured by commercial real estate (CRE) assets. It engages in the origination and purchase of credit investments related to CRE, including leveraged and unleveraged commercial real estate loans. The company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust and would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

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.