LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE:LXP – Get Rating) and Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT – Get Rating) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.
Risk and Volatility
LXP Industrial Trust has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Empire State Realty Trust has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
92.3% of LXP Industrial Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.2% of Empire State Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of LXP Industrial Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.0% of Empire State Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| LXP Industrial Trust | 35.06% | 5.17% | 2.84% |
| Empire State Realty Trust | 7.74% | 3.36% | 1.35% |
Dividends
LXP Industrial Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Empire State Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. LXP Industrial Trust pays out 131.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Empire State Realty Trust pays out 42.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. LXP Industrial Trust has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. LXP Industrial Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for LXP Industrial Trust and Empire State Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| LXP Industrial Trust | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.50 |
| Empire State Realty Trust | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2.33 |
LXP Industrial Trust presently has a consensus price target of $14.00, indicating a potential upside of 50.21%. Empire State Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $7.95, indicating a potential upside of 19.01%. Given LXP Industrial Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe LXP Industrial Trust is more favorable than Empire State Realty Trust.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares LXP Industrial Trust and Empire State Realty Trust’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| LXP Industrial Trust | $326.04 million | 8.36 | $113.78 million | $0.38 | 24.53 |
| Empire State Realty Trust | $727.63 million | 1.47 | $40.64 million | $0.33 | 20.24 |
LXP Industrial Trust has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Empire State Realty Trust. Empire State Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than LXP Industrial Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
LXP Industrial Trust beats Empire State Realty Trust on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About LXP Industrial Trust
LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE: LXP) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on single-tenant industrial real estate investments across the United States. LXP seeks to expand its industrial portfolio through acquisitions, build-to-suit transactions, sale-leaseback transactions, development projects and other transactions.
About Empire State Realty Trust
Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESRT) is a REIT that owns and manages office, retail and multifamily assets in Manhattan and the greater New York metropolitan area. ESRT owns the iconic Empire State Building the World's Most Famous Building and the newly reimagined Empire State Building Observatory that was named #1 attraction in the US, and #3 in the world, in Tripadvisor's 2022 Travelers' Choice Awards: Best of the Best. The company is a leader in healthy buildings, energy-efficiency, and indoor environmental quality and has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions per square foot of any publicly traded REIT portfolio in New York City. As of March 31, 2023, ESRT's portfolio is comprised of approximately 8.9 million rentable square feet of office space, 718,000 rentable square feet of retail space and 721 residential units across three multifamily properties.
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