Analyzing InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:IIPZF) and Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS)

InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:IIPZF) and Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Essex Property Trust has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust and Essex Property Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust	0	0	0	3	4.00
Essex Property Trust	1	12	7	0	2.30

Essex Property Trust has a consensus target price of $297.09, suggesting a potential upside of 14.40%. Given Essex Property Trust’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Essex Property Trust is more favorable than InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust.

Profitability

This table compares InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust and Essex Property Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust	-74.48%	-7.71%	-4.37%
Essex Property Trust	43.51%	13.98%	6.16%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust and Essex Property Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust	$179.73 million	7.46	-$113.59 million	($0.90)	-10.67
Essex Property Trust	$1.77 billion	9.43	$741.52 million	$12.44	20.88

Essex Property Trust has higher revenue and earnings than InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust. InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Essex Property Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Essex Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $10.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust pays out -32.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Essex Property Trust pays out 82.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Essex Property Trust has increased its dividend for 31 consecutive years. Essex Property Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.5% of Essex Property Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.8% of InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Essex Property Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Essex Property Trust beats InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust

InterRent?REIT is a growth-oriented real estate investment trust engaged in increasing Unitholder value and creating a growing and sustainable distribution?through the acquisition and ownership of multi-residential properties. InterRent’s strategy is to expand its portfolio primarily within?markets that have exhibited stable market vacancies,?sufficient suites available to attain the critical mass necessary to implement?an efficient portfolio management structure, and?offer opportunities for accretive acquisitions. InterRent’s primary objectives are to use the proven industry experience of the Trustees,?Management and Operational Team to: (i)?to grow both funds from operations per Unit and net asset value per Unit through investments in a diversified portfolio of multi-residential properties; (ii)?to provide Unitholders with sustainable and growing cash distributions, payable monthly; and (iii)?to maintain a conservative payout ratio and balance sheet.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc., an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.