Financial Comparison: Agree Realty (NYSE:ADC) versus American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT)

Agree Realty (NYSE:ADC) and American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

Agree Realty has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its stock price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Assets Trust has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Agree Realty and American Assets Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Agree Realty	0	7	9	0	2.56
American Assets Trust	0	3	0	0	2.00

Agree Realty presently has a consensus price target of $80.73, indicating a potential upside of 10.01%. American Assets Trust has a consensus price target of $20.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.06%. Given Agree Realty’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Agree Realty is more favorable than American Assets Trust.

Dividends

Agree Realty pays an annual dividend of $3.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. American Assets Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.0%. Agree Realty pays out 183.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. American Assets Trust pays out 134.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Agree Realty has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and American Assets Trust has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. American Assets Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Agree Realty and American Assets Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Agree Realty	28.11%	3.52%	2.16%
American Assets Trust	13.98%	5.43%	2.03%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.8% of Agree Realty shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.4% of American Assets Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Agree Realty shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 36.8% of American Assets Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Agree Realty and American Assets Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Agree Realty	$688.64 million	12.25	$189.20 million	$1.71	42.92
American Assets Trust	$439.58 million	2.69	$72.82 million	$1.01	19.14

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

Summary

Agree Realty beats American Assets Trust on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Agree Realty

Agree Realty Corporation is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that is RETHINKING RETAIL through the acquisition and development of properties net leased to industry-leading, omni-channel retail tenants. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned and operated a portfolio of 2,135 properties, located in 49 states and containing approximately 44.2 million square feet of gross leasable area. The Company's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ADC".

About American Assets Trust

American Assets Trust, Inc. is a full service, vertically integrated and self-administered real estate investment trust ("REIT"), headquartered in San Diego, California. The company has over 55 years of experience in acquiring, improving, developing and managing premier office, retail, and residential properties throughout the United States in some of the nation's most dynamic, high-barrier-to-entry markets primarily in Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Texas and Hawaii. The company's office portfolio comprises approximately 4.1 million rentable square feet, and its retail portfolio comprises approximately 3.1 million rentable square feet. In addition, the company owns one mixed-use property (including approximately 94,000 rentable square feet of retail space and a 369-room all-suite hotel) and 2,110 multifamily units. In 2011, the company was formed to succeed to the real estate business of American Assets, Inc., a privately held corporation founded in 1967 and, as such, has significant experience, long-standing relationships and extensive knowledge of its core markets, submarkets and asset classes.