Head-To-Head Survey: First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) vs. Rexford Industrial Realty (NYSE:REXR)

Rexford Industrial Realty (NYSE:REXR) and First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) are both mid-cap real estate companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, valuation and risk.

Volatility and Risk

Rexford Industrial Realty has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Industrial Realty Trust has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Rexford Industrial Realty and First Industrial Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rexford Industrial Realty	-47.15%	-5.72%	-3.89%
First Industrial Realty Trust	46.12%	12.60%	6.19%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Rexford Industrial Realty and First Industrial Realty Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rexford Industrial Realty	3	5	7	0	2.27
First Industrial Realty Trust	0	8	7	0	2.47

Rexford Industrial Realty presently has a consensus target price of $40.87, suggesting a potential upside of 7.08%. First Industrial Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $66.07, suggesting a potential upside of 21.47%. Given First Industrial Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Industrial Realty Trust is more favorable than Rexford Industrial Realty.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Rexford Industrial Realty and First Industrial Realty Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rexford Industrial Realty	$1.00 billion	8.07	$212.03 million	($2.11)	-18.09
First Industrial Realty Trust	$727.08 million	9.92	$247.44 million	$2.69	20.22

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.5% of Rexford Industrial Realty shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.8% of First Industrial Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Rexford Industrial Realty shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of First Industrial Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Rexford Industrial Realty pays an annual dividend of $1.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. First Industrial Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Rexford Industrial Realty pays out -82.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Industrial Realty Trust pays out 74.3% 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. Rexford Industrial Realty has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and First Industrial Realty Trust has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Rexford Industrial Realty is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

First Industrial Realty Trust beats Rexford Industrial Realty on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Rexford Industrial Realty

Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, which engages in owning and operating industrial properties in infill markets. The company was founded by Richard S. Ziman on January 18, 2013 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.

About First Industrial Realty Trust

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FR) is a leading U.S.-only owner, operator, developer and acquirer of logistics properties. Through our fully integrated operating and investing platform, we provide high quality facilities and industry-leading customer service to multinational corporations and regional firms that are essential for their supply chains. Our portfolio and new investments are concentrated in 15 target MSAs with an emphasis on supply-constrained, coastally oriented markets. In total, we own and have under development approximately 68.5 million square feet of industrial space as of December 31, 2023.