Analyzing Prologis (NYSE:PLD) & Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT)

Prologis (NYSE:PLD) and Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.5% of Prologis shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.1% of Empire State Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Prologis shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.2% of Empire State Realty Trust shares are held by 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Prologis and Empire State Realty Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Prologis	0	6	16	0	2.73
Empire State Realty Trust	2	1	0	0	1.33

Prologis currently has a consensus target price of $150.52, suggesting a potential upside of 2.71%. Empire State Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $6.35, suggesting a potential upside of 9.79%. Given Empire State Realty Trust’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Empire State Realty Trust is more favorable than Prologis.

Profitability

This table compares Prologis and Empire State Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Prologis	41.54%	6.47%	3.78%
Empire State Realty Trust	5.09%	2.19%	0.93%

Dividends

Prologis pays an annual dividend of $4.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Empire State Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Prologis pays out 107.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Empire State Realty Trust pays out 53.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Prologis has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Prologis is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Prologis and Empire State Realty Trust”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Prologis	$8.79 billion	15.54	$3.33 billion	$3.97	36.91
Empire State Realty Trust	$768.27 million	1.30	$47.60 million	$0.26	22.25

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

Risk & Volatility

Prologis has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Empire State Realty Trust has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Prologis beats Empire State Realty Trust on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Prologis

Prologis, Inc. is the global leader in logistics real estate with a focus on high-barrier, high-growth markets. At March 31, 2024, the company owned or had investments in, on a wholly owned basis or through co-investment ventures, properties and development projects expected to total approximately 1.2 billion square feet (115 million square meters) in 19 countries. Prologis leases modern logistics facilities to a diverse base of approximately 6,700 customers principally across two major categories: business-to-business and retail/online fulfillment.

About Empire State Realty Trust

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESRT) is a NYC-focused REIT that owns and operates a portfolio of modernized, amenitized, and well-located office, retail, and multifamily assets. The company is the recognized leader in energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality. ESRT’s flagship Empire State Building – the “World’s Most Famous Building” – includes its Observatory, Tripadvisor’s 2023 Travelers’ Choice Awards: Best of the Best the #1 attraction in the US for two consecutive years. As of September 30, 2023, ESRT’s portfolio is comprised of approximately 8.6 million rentable square feet of office space, 0.7 million rentable square feet of retail space and 727 residential units across three multifamily properties.