First Industrial Realty Trust (FR) Competitors

First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) and EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, community ranking, analyst recommendations, earnings and media sentiment.

Does the media favor FR or EGP?

In the previous week, EastGroup Properties had 4 more articles in the media than First Industrial Realty Trust. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for EastGroup Properties and 11 mentions for First Industrial Realty Trust. First Industrial Realty Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.54 beat EastGroup Properties' score of 0.96 indicating that First Industrial Realty Trust is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Industrial Realty Trust	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
EastGroup Properties	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer FR or EGP?

First Industrial Realty Trust currently has a consensus target price of $57.83, indicating a potential upside of 11.20%. EastGroup Properties has a consensus target price of $191.80, indicating a potential upside of 14.36%. Given EastGroup Properties' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe EastGroup Properties is more favorable than First Industrial Realty Trust.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Industrial Realty Trust	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.46
EastGroup Properties	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Is FR or EGP more profitable?

First Industrial Realty Trust has a net margin of 47.34% compared to EastGroup Properties' net margin of 37.19%. First Industrial Realty Trust's return on equity of 11.53% beat EastGroup Properties' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Industrial Realty Trust	47.34%	11.53%	5.93%
EastGroup Properties	37.19%	8.56%	5.01%

Is FR or EGP a better dividend stock?

First Industrial Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. EastGroup Properties pays an annual dividend of $5.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. First Industrial Realty Trust pays out 63.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. EastGroup Properties pays out 115.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. First Industrial Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years.

Which has more volatility and risk, FR or EGP?

First Industrial Realty Trust has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EastGroup Properties has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, FR or EGP?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Industrial Realty Trust	$651.33M	10.57	$274.82M	$2.33	22.32
EastGroup Properties	$625.34M	13.28	$200.49M	$4.84	34.65

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer FR or EGP?

EastGroup Properties received 30 more outperform votes than First Industrial Realty Trust when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 58.44% of users gave First Industrial Realty Trust an outperform vote while only 57.79% of users gave EastGroup Properties an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Industrial Realty Trust	Outperform Votes 426 58.44%	Underperform Votes 303 41.56%
EastGroup Properties	Outperform Votes 456 57.79%	Underperform Votes 333 42.21%

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in FR or EGP?

99.8% of First Industrial Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.1% of EastGroup Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of First Industrial Realty Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of EastGroup Properties shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

First Industrial Realty Trust beats EastGroup Properties on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.