Financial Review: Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) & Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX)

Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX) and Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Brixmor Property Group has a beta of 1.58, meaning that its stock price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Independence Realty Trust has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.4% of Brixmor Property Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.3% of Independence Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Brixmor Property Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% 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 company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Brixmor Property Group and Independence Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brixmor Property Group	0	4	8	0	2.67
Independence Realty Trust	0	1	6	0	2.86

Brixmor Property Group currently has a consensus target price of $29.38, suggesting a potential downside of 1.04%. Independence Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $20.43, suggesting a potential downside of 4.36%. Given Brixmor Property Group’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Brixmor Property Group is more favorable than Independence Realty Trust.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brixmor Property Group	25.81%	11.48%	3.81%
Independence Realty Trust	-0.03%	-0.01%	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brixmor Property Group	$1.25 billion	7.20	$305.09 million	$1.08	27.49
Independence Realty Trust	$660.98 million	7.27	-$17.23 million	N/A	N/A

Brixmor Property Group has higher revenue and earnings than Independence Realty Trust.

Dividends

Brixmor Property Group pays an annual dividend of $1.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Independence Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Brixmor Property Group pays out 100.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Brixmor Property Group beats Independence Realty Trust on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Brixmor Property Group

Brixmor (NYSE: BRX) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and operates a high-quality, national portfolio of open-air shopping centers. Its 362 retail centers comprise approximately 64 million square feet of prime retail space in established trade areas. The Company strives to own and operate shopping centers that reflect Brixmor's vision to be the center of the communities we serve and are home to a diverse mix of thriving national, regional and local retailers. Brixmor is a proud real estate partner to over 5,000 retailers including The TJX Companies, The Kroger Co., Publix Super Markets and Ross Stores.

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.