American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT – Get Free Report) and Plymouth Industrial REIT (NYSE:PLYM – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and profitability.
Profitability
This table compares American Assets Trust and Plymouth Industrial REIT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| American Assets Trust | 11.42% | 4.31% | 1.68% |
| Plymouth Industrial REIT | 6.75% | 2.84% | 0.91% |
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares American Assets Trust and Plymouth Industrial REIT’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| American Assets Trust | $441.16 million | 2.96 | $64.69 million | $0.84 | 25.52 |
| Plymouth Industrial REIT | $199.85 million | 4.76 | $13.66 million | $0.19 | 110.42 |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
90.4% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of Plymouth Industrial REIT shares are owned by institutional investors. 37.3% of American Assets Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Plymouth Industrial REIT shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for American Assets Trust and Plymouth Industrial REIT, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| American Assets Trust | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Plymouth Industrial REIT | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2.50 |
American Assets Trust presently has a consensus target price of $22.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2.61%. Plymouth Industrial REIT has a consensus target price of $25.00, suggesting a potential upside of 19.16%. Given Plymouth Industrial REIT’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Plymouth Industrial REIT is more favorable than American Assets Trust.
Risk & Volatility
American Assets Trust has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Plymouth Industrial REIT has a beta of 1.36, indicating that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
American Assets Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Plymouth Industrial REIT pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. American Assets Trust pays out 159.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Plymouth Industrial REIT pays out 505.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. American Assets Trust has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Plymouth Industrial REIT has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. American Assets Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Summary
American Assets Trust beats Plymouth Industrial REIT on 10 of the 17 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 Plymouth Industrial REIT
Plymouth Industrial REIT, Inc. (NYSE: PLYM) is a full service, vertically integrated real estate investment company focused on the acquisition, ownership and management of single and multi-tenant industrial properties. Our mission is to provide tenants with cost effective space that is functional, flexible and safe.
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