Financial Analysis: Highlands REIT (OTCMKTS:HHDS) versus Plymouth Industrial REIT (NYSE:PLYM)

Highlands REIT (OTCMKTS:HHDS) and Plymouth Industrial REIT (NYSE:PLYM) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Highlands REIT and Plymouth Industrial REIT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Highlands REIT	-11.68%	-1.98%	-1.19%
Plymouth Industrial REIT	0.46%	0.20%	0.06%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.0% of Highlands REIT shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of Plymouth Industrial REIT shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Highlands REIT shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Plymouth Industrial REIT shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Highlands REIT has a beta of 21.44, meaning that its stock price is 2,044% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Plymouth Industrial REIT has a beta of 1.34, meaning that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Highlands REIT and Plymouth Industrial REIT, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Highlands REIT	0	0	0	0	0.00
Plymouth Industrial REIT	1	4	4	0	2.33

Plymouth Industrial REIT has a consensus price target of $23.89, indicating a potential upside of 38.78%. Given Plymouth Industrial REIT’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Plymouth Industrial REIT is more favorable than Highlands REIT.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Highlands REIT and Plymouth Industrial REIT”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Highlands REIT	$30.98 million	0.37	-$10.30 million	N/A	N/A
Plymouth Industrial REIT	$199.85 million	3.91	$13.66 million	$0.02	860.70

Plymouth Industrial REIT has higher revenue and earnings than Highlands REIT.

Summary

Plymouth Industrial REIT beats Highlands REIT on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Highlands REIT

We are a self-advised and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT) created to own and manage substantially all of the non-core investment properties previously owned and managed by our former parent, InvenTrust Properties Corp., a Maryland corporation (InvenTrust). On April 28, 2016, we were spun-off from InvenTrust through a pro rata distribution (the Distribution) by InvenTrust of 100% of the outstanding shares of our common stock to holders of InvenTrust's common stock. Prior to or concurrent with the separation, we and InvenTrust engaged in certain reorganization transactions that were designed to consolidate substantially all of InvenTrust's remaining non-core investment properties in Highlands.

About Plymouth Industrial REIT

Plymouth Industrial REIT, Inc. (NYSE: PLYM) is a full service, vertically integrated real estate investment company focused on the acquisition, ownership and management of single and multi-tenant industrial properties. Our mission is to provide tenants with cost effective space that is functional, flexible and safe.