Head to Head Comparison: Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) vs. Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT)

Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT) and Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Uniti Group and Empire State Realty Trust’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Uniti Group	$1.15 billion	0.57	-$81.71 million	$0.06	45.51
Empire State Realty Trust	$739.57 million	2.03	$53.24 million	$0.30	30.37

Empire State Realty Trust has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Uniti Group. Empire State Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Uniti Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Uniti Group and Empire State Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Uniti Group	1	1	2	0	2.25
Empire State Realty Trust	1	2	0	0	1.67

Uniti Group currently has a consensus target price of $6.25, suggesting a potential upside of 128.94%. Empire State Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $8.33, suggesting a potential downside of 8.53%. Given Uniti Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Uniti Group is more favorable than Empire State Realty Trust.

Dividends

Uniti Group pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 22.0%. Empire State Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Uniti Group pays out 1,000.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Empire State Realty Trust pays out 46.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Volatility and Risk

Uniti Group has a beta of 1.27, meaning that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Empire State Realty Trust has a beta of 1.36, meaning that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

87.5% of Uniti Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.1% of Empire State Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Uniti Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.0% of Empire State Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Uniti Group and Empire State Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Uniti Group	1.43%	-0.68%	0.33%
Empire State Realty Trust	6.51%	2.85%	1.17%

Summary

Empire State Realty Trust beats Uniti Group on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Uniti Group

Uniti, an internally managed real estate investment trust, is engaged in the acquisition and construction of mission critical communications infrastructure, and is a leading provider of fiber and other wireless solutions for the communications industry. As of December 31, 2023, Uniti owns approximately 140,000 fiber route miles, 8.5 million fiber strand miles, and other communications real estate throughout the United States.

About Empire State Realty Trust

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESRT) is a NYC-focused REIT that owns and operates a portfolio of modernized, amenitized, and well-located office, retail, and multifamily assets. The company is the recognized leader in energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality. ESRT's flagship Empire State Building – the "World's Most Famous Building" – includes its Observatory, Tripadvisor's 2023 Travelers' Choice Awards: Best of the Best the #1 attraction in the US for two consecutive years. As of September 30, 2023, ESRT's portfolio is comprised of approximately 8.6 million rentable square feet of office space, 0.7 million rentable square feet of retail space and 727 residential units across three multifamily properties.