Head to Head Survey: Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) & PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT)

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) and PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Essential Properties Realty Trust and PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Essential Properties Realty Trust	$359.60 million	15.75	$190.71 million	$1.23	26.26
PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust	$255.13 million	4.69	$199.65 million	$1.50	9.18

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Essential Properties Realty Trust. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Essential Properties Realty Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Essential Properties Realty Trust and PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essential Properties Realty Trust	0	2	11	0	2.85
PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust	0	4	3	0	2.43

Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has a consensus price target of $31.73, suggesting a potential downside of 1.76%. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust has a consensus price target of $14.93, suggesting a potential upside of 8.41%. Given PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust is more favorable than Essential Properties Realty Trust.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.0% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.4% of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Essential Properties Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Essential Properties Realty Trust and PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essential Properties Realty Trust	48.12%	6.28%	3.96%
PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust	47.60%	13.29%	1.48%

Volatility & Risk

Essential Properties Realty Trust has a beta of 1.37, meaning that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust has a beta of 1.51, meaning that its share price is 51% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Essential Properties Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.6%. Essential Properties Realty Trust pays out 94.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust pays out 106.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Essential Properties Realty Trust beats PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc., a real estate company, acquires, owns, and manages single-tenant properties in the United States. The company leases its properties to middle-market companies, such as restaurants, car washes, automotive services, medical and dental services, convenience stores, equipment rental, entertainment, early childhood education, grocery, and health and fitness on a long-term basis. As of December 31, 2021, it had a portfolio of 1, 451 properties. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It generally would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey.

About PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust, through its subsidiary, primarily invests in mortgage-related assets in the United States. The company operates through: Credit Sensitive Strategies, Interest Rate Sensitive Strategies, Correspondent Production segments. Its Credit Sensitive Strategies segment invests in credit risk transfer (CRT) agreements, CRT securities, subordinate mortgage-backed securities (MBS), distressed loans, and real estate. The company's Interest Rate Sensitive Strategies segment engages in investing in mortgage servicing rights, excess servicing spreads, and agency and senior non-agency MBS, as well as related interest rate hedging activities. Its Correspondent Production segment is involved in purchasing, pooling, and reselling newly originated prime credit residential loans directly or in the form of MBS. The company primarily sells its loans to government-sponsored entities or PennyMac Loan Services, LLC. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It generally would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Westlake Village, California.