Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) & Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE:BDN) Head to Head Comparison

Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE:BDN) and Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Brandywine Realty Trust and Highwoods Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brandywine Realty Trust	3	3	0	0	1.50
Highwoods Properties	0	8	0	0	2.00

Brandywine Realty Trust presently has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 13.45%. Highwoods Properties has a consensus target price of $32.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.23%. Given Brandywine Realty Trust’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Brandywine Realty Trust is more favorable than Highwoods Properties.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

87.3% of Brandywine Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of Highwoods Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.5% of Brandywine Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Highwoods Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Brandywine Realty Trust has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Highwoods Properties has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Brandywine Realty Trust and Highwoods Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brandywine Realty Trust	-27.60%	-19.24%	-3.97%
Highwoods Properties	22.56%	7.68%	2.98%

Dividends

Brandywine Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.4%. Highwoods Properties pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.5%. Brandywine Realty Trust pays out -40.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Highwoods Properties pays out 118.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Brandywine Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Brandywine Realty Trust and Highwoods Properties”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brandywine Realty Trust	$484.45 million	1.08	-$178.25 million	($0.80)	-3.86
Highwoods Properties	$806.11 million	4.24	$159.61 million	$1.69	18.34

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

Summary

Highwoods Properties beats Brandywine Realty Trust on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Brandywine Realty Trust

Brandywine Realty Trust is a self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust that owns, develops, leases and manages office, mixed-use and life science properties. Its portfolio includes high-quality commercial buildings, retail components and multifamily or residential elements within larger urban developments. The company’s operations are concentrated in the Philadelphia region, including Center City Philadelphia, University City and surrounding suburban communities. Brandywine’s notable developments include Cira Centre, FMC Tower at Cira Centre South and the Schuylkill Yards innovation district.

About Highwoods Properties

Highwoods Properties, Inc. is a real estate investment trust that owns, develops, leases and manages office properties. Its portfolio is concentrated in business districts across the U.S. Sun Belt, including markets such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Raleigh and Tampa. The company provides office space and related property management services to businesses across a range of industries. Its work includes developing and maintaining properties as well as leasing space to commercial tenants. Highwoods is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.