Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) & Postal Realty Trust (NYSE:PSTL) Financial Comparison

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) and Postal Realty Trust (NYSE:PSTL) are both small-cap real estate companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Easterly Government Properties and Postal Realty Trust”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Easterly Government Properties	$336.10 million	3.36	$13.00 million	$0.21	113.74
Postal Realty Trust	$95.82 million	6.68	$14.15 million	$0.54	42.95

Postal Realty Trust has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Easterly Government Properties. Postal Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Easterly Government Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Easterly Government Properties and Postal Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Easterly Government Properties	2.86%	0.75%	0.30%
Postal Realty Trust	16.42%	4.63%	2.22%

Volatility and Risk

Easterly Government Properties has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Postal Realty Trust has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Easterly Government Properties and Postal Realty Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Easterly Government Properties	1	4	2	0	2.14
Postal Realty Trust	0	2	6	0	2.75

Easterly Government Properties presently has a consensus target price of $25.06, suggesting a potential upside of 4.94%. Postal Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $24.38, suggesting a potential upside of 5.11%. Given Postal Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Postal Realty Trust is more favorable than Easterly Government Properties.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

86.5% of Easterly Government Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.9% of Postal Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 6.5% of Easterly Government Properties shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.5% of Postal Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Easterly Government Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.5%. Postal Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Easterly Government Properties pays out 857.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Postal Realty Trust pays out 181.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Postal Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Summary

Postal Realty Trust beats Easterly Government Properties on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Easterly Government Properties

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE: DEA) is based in Washington, D.C., and focuses primarily on the acquisition, development and management of Class A commercial properties that are leased to the U.S. Government. Easterly’s experienced management team brings specialized insight into the strategy and needs of mission-critical U.S. Government agencies for properties leased to such agencies either directly or through the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).

About Postal Realty Trust

Postal Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: PSTL) is an internally managed real estate investment trust that owns properties primarily leased to the United States Postal Service ("USPS"). PSTL is focused on acquiring the network of USPS properties, which provide a critical element of the nation's logistics infrastructure that facilitates cost effective and efficient last-mile delivery solutions. As of December 31, 2023, PSTL owned 1,509 properties (including two properties accounted for as financing leases) located in 49 states and one territory comprising approximately 5.9 million net leasable interior square feet. Subsequent to quarter-end and through February 23, 2024, PSTL closed on eight additional properties comprising approximately 33,000 net leasable interior square feet.