Financial Contrast: Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) versus Curbline Properties (NYSE:CURB)

Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) and Curbline Properties (NYSE:CURB) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Federal Realty Investment Trust and Curbline Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Federal Realty Investment Trust	0	9	7	1	2.53
Curbline Properties	0	4	4	0	2.50

Federal Realty Investment Trust currently has a consensus price target of $109.30, indicating a potential upside of 6.31%. Curbline Properties has a consensus price target of $27.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.07%. Given Curbline Properties’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Curbline Properties is more favorable than Federal Realty Investment Trust.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Federal Realty Investment Trust and Curbline Properties”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Federal Realty Investment Trust	$1.20 billion	7.38	$295.21 million	$3.94	26.09
Curbline Properties	$163.67 million	15.11	$10.26 million	$0.40	58.66

Federal Realty Investment Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Curbline Properties. Federal Realty Investment Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Curbline Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Federal Realty Investment Trust and Curbline Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Federal Realty Investment Trust	27.65%	11.12%	4.01%
Curbline Properties	25.51%	2.19%	1.94%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.9% of Federal Realty Investment Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Federal Realty Investment Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of Curbline Properties shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Federal Realty Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $4.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Curbline Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Federal Realty Investment Trust pays out 114.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Curbline Properties pays out 160.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Federal Realty Investment Trust has increased its dividend for 58 consecutive years. Federal Realty Investment Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk and Volatility

Federal Realty Investment Trust has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Curbline Properties has a beta of 0.48, indicating that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Federal Realty Investment Trust beats Curbline Properties on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Federal Realty Investment Trust

Federal Realty Investment Trust is an equity real estate investment trust, which engages in the provision of ownership, management, and redevelopment of retail and mixed-use properties located primarily in communities where demand exceeds supply in strategically selected metropolitan markets. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in North Bethesda, MD.

About Curbline Properties

Curbline Properties Corp. is a real estate investment trust which is an owner and manager of convenience shopping centers positioned on the curbline of well-trafficked intersections and major vehicular corridors in suburban. Curbline Properties Corp. is based in NEW YORK.