Financial Contrast: Peakstone Realty Trust (NYSE:PKST) and Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA)

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) and Peakstone Realty Trust (NYSE:PKST) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Easterly Government Properties has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Peakstone Realty Trust has a beta of 2.63, meaning that its stock price is 163% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Easterly Government Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.8%. Peakstone Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Easterly Government Properties pays out 530.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Peakstone Realty Trust pays out -5.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.5% of Easterly Government Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.0% of Peakstone Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 8.1% of Easterly Government Properties shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Peakstone Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Easterly Government Properties and Peakstone Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Easterly Government Properties	6.49%	1.36%	0.65%
Peakstone Realty Trust	-60.76%	-12.06%	-5.25%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Easterly Government Properties and Peakstone Realty Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Easterly Government Properties	0	1	0	0	2.00
Peakstone Realty Trust	0	1	0	0	2.00

Easterly Government Properties currently has a consensus target price of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.13%. Peakstone Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $13.00, suggesting a potential downside of 9.34%. Given Easterly Government Properties’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Easterly Government Properties is more favorable than Peakstone Realty Trust.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Easterly Government Properties and Peakstone Realty Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Easterly Government Properties	$287.23 million	4.87	$18.80 million	$0.20	67.88
Peakstone Realty Trust	$254.28 million	2.05	-$550.58 million	($15.55)	-0.92

Easterly Government Properties has higher revenue and earnings than Peakstone Realty Trust. Peakstone Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Easterly Government Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Easterly Government Properties beats Peakstone Realty Trust on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Easterly Government Properties

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE: DEA) is based in Washington, D.C., and focuses primarily on the acquisition, development and management of Class A commercial properties that are leased to the U.S. Government. Easterly’s experienced management team brings specialized insight into the strategy and needs of mission-critical U.S. Government agencies for properties leased to such agencies either directly or through the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).

About Peakstone Realty Trust

Peakstone Realty Trust (NYSE: PKST) is an internally managed, real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and operates a high-quality, newer-vintage portfolio of predominantly single-tenant industrial and office properties. These assets are generally leased to creditworthy tenants under long-term net lease agreements with contractual rent escalations. As of March 31, 2023, Peakstone's wholly-owned portfolio consists of 19 million square feet across 24 states in primarily high-growth, strategic coastal and sunbelt markets.