Gladstone Land (NASDAQ:LAND – Get Free Report) and Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
53.6% of Gladstone Land shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of Federal Realty Investment Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.2% of Gladstone Land shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Federal Realty Investment Trust shares are owned by company 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 and Valuation
This table compares Gladstone Land and Federal Realty Investment Trust’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Gladstone Land | $89.45 million | 6.00 | $14.56 million | $0.06 | 249.67 |
| Federal Realty Investment Trust | $1.15 billion | 7.90 | $236.99 million | $2.81 | 38.99 |
Risk and Volatility
Gladstone Land has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Federal Realty Investment Trust has a beta of 1.23, suggesting that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Gladstone Land and Federal Realty Investment Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Gladstone Land | 29.49% | 3.63% | 1.89% |
| Federal Realty Investment Trust | 20.55% | 8.34% | 2.84% |
Dividends
Gladstone Land pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Federal Realty Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $4.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Gladstone Land pays out 933.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Federal Realty Investment Trust pays out 155.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Federal Realty Investment Trust has increased its dividend for 57 consecutive years. Federal Realty Investment Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Gladstone Land and Federal Realty Investment Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Gladstone Land | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2.75 |
| Federal Realty Investment Trust | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 2.90 |
Gladstone Land currently has a consensus price target of $16.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.81%. Federal Realty Investment Trust has a consensus price target of $114.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.06%. Given Gladstone Land’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Gladstone Land is more favorable than Federal Realty Investment Trust.
Summary
Federal Realty Investment Trust beats Gladstone Land on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Gladstone Land
Founded in 1997, Gladstone Land is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires and owns farmland and farm-related properties located in major agricultural markets in the U.S. and leases its properties to unrelated third-party farmers. The Company, which reports the aggregate fair value of its farmland holdings on a quarterly basis, currently owns 169 farms, comprised of approximately 116,000 acres in 15 different states and over 45,000 acre-feet of banked water in California, valued at a total of approximately $1.6 billion. Gladstone Land's farms are predominantly located in regions where its tenants are able to grow fresh produce annual row crops, such as berries and vegetables, which are generally planted and harvested annually. The Company also owns farms growing permanent crops, such as almonds, apples, cherries, figs, lemons, olives, pistachios, and other orchards, as well as blueberry groves and vineyards, which are generally planted every 20-plus years and harvested annually. Approximately 40% of the Company's fresh produce acreage is either organic or in transition to become organic, and over 10% of its permanent crop acreage falls into this category. The Company may also acquire property related to farming, such as cooling facilities, processing buildings, packaging facilities, and distribution centers. Gladstone Land pays monthly distributions to its stockholders and has paid 129 consecutive monthly cash distributions on its common stock since its initial public offering in January 2013. The Company has increased its common distributions 32 times over the prior 35 quarters, and the current per-share distribution on its common stock is $0.0464 per month, or $0.5568 per year.
About Federal Realty Investment Trust
Federal Realty is a recognized leader in the ownership, operation and redevelopment of high-quality retail-based properties located primarily in major coastal markets from Washington, D.C. to Boston as well as San Francisco and Los Angeles. Founded in 1962, Federal Realty's mission is to deliver long-term, sustainable growth through investing in communities where retail demand exceeds supply. Its expertise includes creating urban, mixed-use neighborhoods like Santana Row in San Jose, California, Pike & Rose in North Bethesda, Maryland and Assembly Row in Somerville, Massachusetts. These unique and vibrant environments that combine shopping, dining, living and working provide a destination experience valued by their respective communities. Federal Realty's 102 properties include approximately 3,300 tenants, in 26 million commercial square feet, and approximately 3,100 residential units. Federal Realty has increased its quarterly dividends to its shareholders for 56 consecutive years, the longest record in the REIT industry. Federal Realty is an S&P 500 index member and its shares are traded on the NYSE under the symbol FRT.
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