Head-To-Head Review: Franklin Street Properties (NYSE:FSP) vs. Four Corners Property Trust (NYSE:FCPT)

Four Corners Property Trust (NYSE:FCPT) and Franklin Street Properties (NYSE:FSP) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Four Corners Property Trust and Franklin Street Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Four Corners Property Trust	0	2	2	0	2.50
Franklin Street Properties	0	0	0	0	N/A

Four Corners Property Trust presently has a consensus target price of $29.67, suggesting a potential upside of 3.55%. Given Four Corners Property Trust’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Four Corners Property Trust is more favorable than Franklin Street Properties.

Dividends

Four Corners Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Franklin Street Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Four Corners Property Trust pays out 129.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Franklin Street Properties pays out -5.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.7% of Four Corners Property Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.4% of Franklin Street Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Four Corners Property Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of Franklin Street Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Four Corners Property Trust and Franklin Street Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Four Corners Property Trust	37.01%	7.72%	3.95%
Franklin Street Properties	-52.85%	-10.06%	-6.46%

Volatility and Risk

Four Corners Property Trust has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Franklin Street Properties has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Four Corners Property Trust and Franklin Street Properties”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Four Corners Property Trust	$250.61 million	10.59	$95.34 million	$1.07	26.78
Franklin Street Properties	$145.71 million	1.14	-$48.11 million	($0.68)	-2.35

Four Corners Property Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Franklin Street Properties. Franklin Street Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Four Corners Property Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Four Corners Property Trust beats Franklin Street Properties on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Four Corners Property Trust

FCPT, headquartered in Mill Valley, CA, is a real estate investment trust primarily engaged in the ownership, acquisition and leasing of restaurant and retail properties. The Company seeks to grow its portfolio by acquiring additional real estate to lease, on a net basis, for use in the restaurant and retail industries.

About Franklin Street Properties

Franklin Street Properties Corp., based in Wakefield, Massachusetts, is focused on infill and central business district (CBD) office properties in the U.S. Sunbelt and Mountain West, as well as select opportunistic markets. FSP seeks value-oriented investments with an eye towards long-term growth and appreciation, as well as current income. FSP is a Maryland corporation that operates in a manner intended to qualify as a real estate investment trust (REIT) for federal income tax purposes.