Financial Analysis: Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) and Global Net Lease (NYSE:GNL)

Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) and Global Net Lease (NYSE:GNL) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

Americold Realty Trust has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Global Net Lease has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.1% of Americold Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.2% of Global Net Lease shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Americold Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Global Net Lease shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Americold Realty Trust and Global Net Lease”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Americold Realty Trust	$2.67 billion	1.45	-$94.31 million	($0.22)	-61.70
Global Net Lease	$805.01 million	2.58	-$131.57 million	($1.43)	-6.62

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Americold Realty Trust and Global Net Lease, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Americold Realty Trust	2	10	3	0	2.07
Global Net Lease	0	1	5	0	2.83

Americold Realty Trust currently has a consensus price target of $13.92, indicating a potential upside of 2.52%. Global Net Lease has a consensus price target of $9.60, indicating a potential upside of 1.37%. Given Americold Realty Trust’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Americold Realty Trust is more favorable than Global Net Lease.

Profitability

This table compares Americold Realty Trust and Global Net Lease’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Americold Realty Trust	-2.39%	-1.96%	-0.79%
Global Net Lease	-48.52%	-10.27%	-3.49%

Dividends

Americold Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.8%. Global Net Lease pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.0%. Americold Realty Trust pays out -418.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Global Net Lease pays out -53.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Americold Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Summary

Americold Realty Trust beats Global Net Lease on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Americold Realty Trust

Americold Realty Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which focuses on the ownership, operation, development, and acquisition of temperature-controlled warehouses. It operates through the following segments: Warehouse, Third-Party Managed, Transportation, and Other. The Warehouse segment collects rent and storage fees from customers to store frozen and perishable food and other products within the firm’s real estate portfolio. The Third-Party Managed segment manages warehouses on behalf of third parties and provides warehouse management services to food retailers and manufacturers in customer-owned facilities. The Transportation segment is involved in brokering and managing transportation of frozen and perishable food and other products. The Other segment includes ownership in a limestone quarry in Carthage, Missouri. The company was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.

About Global Net Lease

Global Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE: GNL) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust listed on the NYSE. The firm focused on acquiring a diversified global portfolio of commercial properties, with an emphasis on sale-leaseback transactions involving single tenant, mission critical income producing net-leased assets across the United States, Western and Northern Europe.