Financial Analysis: Rexford Industrial Realty (NYSE:REXR) & Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple (NYSE:GRP.U)

Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple (NYSE:GRP.U) and Rexford Industrial Realty (NYSE:REXR) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple and Rexford Industrial Realty, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple	0	0	0	0	0.00
Rexford Industrial Realty	1	7	3	0	2.18

Rexford Industrial Realty has a consensus price target of $46.83, suggesting a potential upside of 17.31%. Given Rexford Industrial Realty’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Rexford Industrial Realty is more favorable than Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

57.1% of Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.5% of Rexford Industrial Realty shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Rexford Industrial Realty shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple pays an annual dividend of $1.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Rexford Industrial Realty pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple pays out 32.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Rexford Industrial Realty pays out 142.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple and Rexford Industrial Realty”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple	$569.14 million	5.22	$101.24 million	$4.17	11.44
Rexford Industrial Realty	$936.41 million	9.72	$273.80 million	$1.21	33.00

Rexford Industrial Realty has higher revenue and earnings than Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple. Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Rexford Industrial Realty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple and Rexford Industrial Realty’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple	55.97%	5.71%	3.34%
Rexford Industrial Realty	29.10%	3.26%	2.19%

Summary

Rexford Industrial Realty beats Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Granite Real Estate Inc. Staple

Granite Real Estate Investment Trust is engaged in the ownership and management of predominantly industrial properties in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe. The Company owns and manages rental income properties. Its services include sourcing and real estate acquisition, site development, assisting with government approvals and re-zoning to specific uses, build-to-suit construction, property renovation, project management and long-term leasing. Granite Real Estate Investment Trust, formerly known as Granite Real Estate Inc., is based in Toronto, Canada.

About Rexford Industrial Realty

Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, which engages in owning and operating industrial properties in infill markets. The company was founded by Richard S. Ziman on January 18, 2013 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.