Financial Survey: Prologis (NYSE:PLD) and First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR)

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

Volatility & Risk

Prologis has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its share price is 27% 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Prologis and First Industrial Realty Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Prologis	$8.79 billion	14.21	$3.33 billion	$4.53	29.00
First Industrial Realty Trust	$727.08 million	10.11	$247.44 million	$2.69	20.61

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.5% of Prologis shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.8% of First Industrial Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Prologis shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of First Industrial Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Prologis	0	6	18	1	2.80
First Industrial Realty Trust	0	8	7	0	2.47

Prologis presently has a consensus price target of $154.05, indicating a potential upside of 17.26%. First Industrial Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $65.67, indicating a potential upside of 18.42%. Given First Industrial Realty Trust’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Industrial Realty Trust is more favorable than Prologis.

Dividends

Prologis pays an annual dividend of $4.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. First Industrial Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Prologis pays out 94.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. First Industrial Realty Trust pays out 74.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Prologis has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years and First Industrial Realty Trust has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. First Industrial Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Prologis	45.51%	7.29%	4.24%
First Industrial Realty Trust	46.12%	12.60%	6.19%

Summary

Prologis beats First Industrial Realty Trust on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Prologis

Prologis, Inc. is the global leader in logistics real estate with a focus on high-barrier, high-growth markets. At March 31, 2024, the company owned or had investments in, on a wholly owned basis or through co-investment ventures, properties and development projects expected to total approximately 1.2 billion square feet (115 million square meters) in 19 countries. Prologis leases modern logistics facilities to a diverse base of approximately 6,700 customers principally across two major categories: business-to-business and retail/online fulfillment.

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.