Critical Comparison: Gladstone Land (NASDAQ:LANDP) vs. EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR)

EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) and Gladstone Land (NASDAQ:LANDP) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

74.7% of EPR Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of EPR Properties shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares EPR Properties and Gladstone Land’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
EPR Properties	35.45%	11.34%	4.58%
Gladstone Land	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

EPR Properties pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.2%. Gladstone Land pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.3%. EPR Properties pays out 119.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. EPR Properties has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for EPR Properties and Gladstone Land, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
EPR Properties	0	4	9	0	2.69
Gladstone Land	0	0	0	0	0.00

EPR Properties presently has a consensus price target of $65.45, indicating a potential upside of 9.79%. Given EPR Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe EPR Properties is more favorable than Gladstone Land.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares EPR Properties and Gladstone Land”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
EPR Properties	$699.01 million	6.53	$274.94 million	$3.11	19.17
Gladstone Land	$88.48 million	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

EPR Properties has higher revenue and earnings than Gladstone Land.

Summary

EPR Properties beats Gladstone Land on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About EPR Properties

EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) is the leading diversified experiential net lease real estate investment trust (REIT), specializing in select enduring experiential properties in the real estate industry. We focus on real estate venues that create value by facilitating out of home leisure and recreation experiences where consumers choose to spend their discretionary time and money. We have total assets of approximately $5.7 billion (after accumulated depreciation of approximately $1.4 billion) across 44 states. We adhere to rigorous underwriting and investing criteria centered on key industry, property and tenant level cash flow standards. We believe our focused approach provides a competitive advantage and the potential for stable and attractive returns.

About Gladstone Land

Founded in 1997, Gladstone Land is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires and owns farmland and farm-related properties located in major agricultural markets in the U.S. and leases its properties to unrelated third-party farmers. The Company, which reports the aggregate fair value of its farmland holdings on a quarterly basis, currently owns 169 farms, comprised of approximately 116,000 acres in 15 different states and over 45,000 acre-feet of banked water in California, valued at a total of approximately $1.6 billion. Gladstone Land's farms are predominantly located in regions where its tenants are able to grow fresh produce annual row crops, such as berries and vegetables, which are generally planted and harvested annually. The Company also owns farms growing permanent crops, such as almonds, apples, cherries, figs, lemons, olives, pistachios, and other orchards, as well as blueberry groves and vineyards, which are generally planted every 20-plus years and harvested annually. Approximately 40% of the Company's fresh produce acreage is either organic or in transition to become organic, and over 10% of its permanent crop acreage falls into this category. The Company may also acquire property related to farming, such as cooling facilities, processing buildings, packaging facilities, and distribution centers. Gladstone Land pays monthly distributions to its stockholders and has paid 129 consecutive monthly cash distributions on its common stock since its initial public offering in January 2013. The Company has increased its common distributions 32 times over the prior 35 quarters, and the current per-share distribution on its common stock is $0.0464 per month, or $0.5568 per year.