Critical Review: LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE:LXP) versus Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT)

LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE:LXP) and Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.5% of LXP Industrial Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.2% of Camden Property Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 2.6% of LXP Industrial Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Camden Property Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares LXP Industrial Trust and Camden Property Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
LXP Industrial Trust	$358.46 million	7.80	$44.53 million	$0.28	33.78
Camden Property Trust	$1.54 billion	7.09	$163.29 million	$1.43	71.68

Camden Property Trust has higher revenue and earnings than LXP Industrial Trust. LXP Industrial Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Camden Property Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for LXP Industrial Trust and Camden Property Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
LXP Industrial Trust	0	3	2	0	2.40
Camden Property Trust	2	9	6	0	2.24

LXP Industrial Trust currently has a consensus price target of $10.33, suggesting a potential upside of 9.25%. Camden Property Trust has a consensus price target of $121.61, suggesting a potential upside of 18.64%. Given Camden Property Trust’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Camden Property Trust is more favorable than LXP Industrial Trust.

Profitability

This table compares LXP Industrial Trust and Camden Property Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
LXP Industrial Trust	24.07%	4.34%	2.30%
Camden Property Trust	9.99%	3.30%	1.74%

Volatility & Risk

LXP Industrial Trust has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Camden Property Trust has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

LXP Industrial Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.54 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. Camden Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $4.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. LXP Industrial Trust pays out 192.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Camden Property Trust pays out 293.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. LXP Industrial Trust has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Camden Property Trust has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. LXP Industrial Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

LXP Industrial Trust beats Camden Property Trust on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About LXP Industrial Trust

LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE: LXP) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on single-tenant industrial real estate investments across the United States. LXP seeks to expand its industrial portfolio through acquisitions, build-to-suit transactions, sale-leaseback transactions, development projects and other transactions.

About Camden Property Trust

Camden Property Trust, an S&P 500 Company, is a real estate company primarily engaged in the ownership, management, development, redevelopment, acquisition, and construction of multifamily apartment communities. Camden owns and operates 172 properties containing 58,250 apartment homes across the United States. Upon completion of 5 properties currently under development, the Company’s portfolio will increase to 59,996 apartment homes in 177 properties. Camden has been recognized as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For by FORTUNE magazine for 17 consecutive years, most recently ranking #24.