Head to Head Survey: Peakstone Realty Trust (NYSE:PKST) & Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Peakstone Realty Trust (NYSE:PKST) and Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Peakstone Realty Trust and Equity Residential”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Peakstone Realty Trust	$233.20 million	1.71	-$550.58 million	($1.18)	-9.30
Equity Residential	$2.94 billion	9.04	$835.44 million	$2.44	28.72

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

Dividends

Peakstone Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.2%. Equity Residential pays an annual dividend of $2.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Peakstone Realty Trust pays out -76.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Equity Residential pays out 110.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Peakstone Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Peakstone Realty Trust and Equity Residential’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Peakstone Realty Trust	-18.26%	-3.61%	-1.59%
Equity Residential	31.57%	8.31%	4.61%

Risk and Volatility

Peakstone Realty Trust has a beta of 2.51, meaning that its share price is 151% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equity Residential has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Peakstone Realty Trust and Equity Residential, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Peakstone Realty Trust	0	1	0	0	2.00
Equity Residential	0	10	9	0	2.47

Peakstone Realty Trust presently has a consensus target price of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 36.74%. Equity Residential has a consensus target price of $78.14, indicating a potential upside of 11.52%. Given Peakstone Realty Trust’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Peakstone Realty Trust is more favorable than Equity Residential.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

39.0% of Peakstone Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of Equity Residential shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Peakstone Realty Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Equity Residential shares are held 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.

Summary

Equity Residential beats Peakstone Realty Trust on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Equity Residential

Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract affluent long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 305 properties consisting of 80,683 apartment units, with an established presence in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, and an expanding presence in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Austin.