Comparing Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) & Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:BOWFF)

Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:BOWFF) and Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, valuation, dividends and risk.

Dividends

Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Independence Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust pays out 29.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Independence Realty Trust pays out 485.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Independence Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Independence Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

88.3% of Independence Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 19.0% of Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Independence Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust and Independence Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust	0	1	0	0	2.00
Independence Realty Trust	0	3	7	0	2.70

Independence Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $22.70, suggesting a potential upside of 29.07%. Given Independence Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Independence Realty Trust is more favorable than Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust.

Volatility & Risk

Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Independence Realty Trust has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust and Independence Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust	67.26%	8.55%	4.79%
Independence Realty Trust	4.70%	0.85%	0.50%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust and Independence Realty Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust	$440.33 million	6.20	$429.28 million	$4.00	12.81
Independence Realty Trust	$640.03 million	6.42	$39.29 million	$0.14	125.62

Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Independence Realty Trust. Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Independence Realty Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Independence Realty Trust beats Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust

Boardwalk REIT strives to be Canada’s friendliest community provider and is a leading owner/operator of multi-family rental communities. Providing homes in more than 200 communities, with over 34,000 residential suites totaling over 29 million net rentable square feet, Boardwalk has a proven long-term track record of building better communities, where love always lives. Our three-tiered and distinct brands: Boardwalk Living, Boardwalk Communities, and Boardwalk Lifestyle, cater to a large diverse demographic and has evolved to capture the life cycle of all Resident Members. Boardwalk’s disciplined approach to capital allocation, acquisition, development, purposeful re-positioning, and management of apartment communities allows the Trust to provide its brand of community across Canada creating exceptional Resident Member experiences. Differentiated by its peak performance culture, Boardwalk is committed to delivering exceptional service, product quality and experience to our Resident Members who reward us with high retention and market leading operating results, which in turn, lead to higher free cash flow and investment returns, stable monthly distributions, and value creation for all our stakeholders. Boardwalk REIT’s Trust Units are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol BEI.UN.

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.