Postal Realty Trust (NYSE:PSTL) vs. Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) Head-To-Head Survey

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

Volatility & Risk

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.5% of Easterly Government Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.9% of Postal Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.5% of Easterly Government Properties shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 12.5% of Postal Realty Trust shares are owned by 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

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 increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

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%

Analyst Ratings

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

	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 price target of $25.06, suggesting a potential upside of 4.94%. Postal Realty Trust has a consensus price target 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Easterly Government Properties and Postal Realty Trust”s gross 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.

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.