Head to Head Analysis: LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE:LXP) and Farmland Partners (NYSE:FPI)

Farmland Partners (NYSE:FPI) and LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE:LXP) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

58.0% of Farmland Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of LXP Industrial Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.3% of Farmland Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of LXP Industrial Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Farmland Partners and LXP Industrial Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Farmland Partners	36.89%	3.97%	2.01%
LXP Industrial Trust	9.50%	1.51%	0.80%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Farmland Partners and LXP Industrial Trust’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Farmland Partners	$56.65 million	8.66	$30.91 million	$0.51	19.96
LXP Industrial Trust	$340.42 million	8.86	$30.38 million	$0.04	256.25

Farmland Partners has higher earnings, but lower revenue than LXP Industrial Trust. Farmland Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than LXP Industrial Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Farmland Partners and LXP Industrial Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Farmland Partners	0	0	2	0	3.00
LXP Industrial Trust	0	1	3	0	2.75

Farmland Partners presently has a consensus target price of $15.00, suggesting a potential upside of 47.35%. LXP Industrial Trust has a consensus target price of $11.33, suggesting a potential upside of 10.57%. Given Farmland Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Farmland Partners is more favorable than LXP Industrial Trust.

Dividends

Farmland Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. LXP Industrial Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. Farmland Partners pays out 47.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. LXP Industrial Trust pays out 1,300.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Farmland Partners has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

Farmland Partners has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LXP Industrial Trust has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Farmland Partners beats LXP Industrial Trust on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Farmland Partners

Farmland Partners Inc. is an internally managed real estate company that owns and seeks to acquire high-quality North American farmland and makes loans to farmers secured by farm real estate. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owns and/or manages approximately 171,100 acres in 16 states, including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. In addition, the Company owns land and buildings for four agriculture equipment dealerships in Ohio leased to Ag Pro under the John Deere brand. The Company has approximately 26 crop types and over 100 tenants. The Company elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, commencing with the taxable year ended December 31, 2014.

About LXP Industrial Trust

LXP Industrial Trust (NYSE: LXP) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on single-tenant industrial real estate investments across the United States. LXP seeks to expand its industrial portfolio through acquisitions, build-to-suit transactions, sale-leaseback transactions, development projects and other transactions.