Head-To-Head Review: Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) versus Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) and Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, profitability and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Independence Realty Trust and Equinix”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Independence Realty Trust	$660.98 million	7.41	-$17.23 million	N/A	N/A
Equinix	$8.19 billion	11.03	$969.18 million	$11.09	84.43

Equinix has higher revenue and earnings than Independence Realty Trust.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Independence Realty Trust and Equinix, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Independence Realty Trust	0	1	6	0	2.86
Equinix	0	5	14	1	2.80

Independence Realty Trust currently has a consensus price target of $20.43, indicating a potential downside of 6.08%. Equinix has a consensus price target of $952.88, indicating a potential upside of 1.76%. Given Equinix’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Equinix is more favorable than Independence Realty Trust.

Risk and Volatility

Independence Realty Trust has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equinix has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Independence Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Equinix pays an annual dividend of $17.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Equinix pays out 153.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

This table compares Independence Realty Trust and Equinix’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Independence Realty Trust	-0.03%	-0.01%	N/A
Equinix	12.29%	8.34%	3.18%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

88.3% of Independence Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.9% of Equinix shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Independence Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Equinix shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Equinix beats Independence Realty Trust on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Independence Realty Trust

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: IRT) is a real estate investment trust that owns and operates multifamily communities, across non-gateway U.S. markets including Atlanta, GA, Dallas, TX, Denver, CO, Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, IN, Raleigh-Durham, NC, Oklahoma City, OK, Nashville, TN, Houston, TX, and Tampa, FL. IRT’s investment strategy is focused on gaining scale near major employment centers within key amenity rich submarkets that offer good school districts and high-quality retail. IRT aims to provide stockholders attractive risk-adjusted returns through diligent portfolio management, strong operational performance, and a consistent return on capital through distributions and capital appreciation.

About Equinix

Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world's digital infrastructure company . Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.