Analyzing W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) & Welltower (NYSE:WELL)

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) and W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

Welltower has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, W.P. Carey has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

94.8% of Welltower shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.7% of W.P. Carey shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Welltower shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of W.P. Carey shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Welltower pays an annual dividend of $2.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. W.P. Carey pays an annual dividend of $3.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Welltower pays out 167.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. W.P. Carey pays out 236.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Welltower has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and W.P. Carey has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Welltower and W.P. Carey”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Welltower	$7.99 billion	14.11	$951.68 million	$1.77	95.26
W.P. Carey	$1.58 billion	9.27	$460.84 million	$1.52	44.11

Welltower has higher revenue and earnings than W.P. Carey. W.P. Carey is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Welltower, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Welltower and W.P. Carey, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Welltower	1	1	7	1	2.80
W.P. Carey	1	7	2	0	2.10

Welltower presently has a consensus target price of $175.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.79%. W.P. Carey has a consensus target price of $66.33, suggesting a potential downside of 1.06%. Given Welltower’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Welltower is more favorable than W.P. Carey.

Profitability

This table compares Welltower and W.P. Carey’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Welltower	12.18%	3.38%	2.16%
W.P. Carey	20.42%	4.00%	1.91%

Summary

Welltower beats W.P. Carey on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL), a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) and S&P 500 company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, is driving the transformation of health care infrastructure. Welltower invests with leading seniors housing operators, post-acute providers and health systems to fund the real estate infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people’s wellness and overall health care experience. Welltower owns interests in properties concentrated in major, high-growth markets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, consisting of seniors housing and post-acute communities and outpatient medical properties.

About W.P. Carey

W. P. Carey ranks among the largest net lease REITs with a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality, operationally critical commercial real estate, which includes 1,424 net lease properties covering approximately 173 million square feet and a portfolio of 89 self-storage operating properties as of December 31, 2023. With offices in New York, London, Amsterdam and Dallas, the company remains focused on investing primarily in single-tenant, industrial, warehouse and retail properties located in the U.S. and Northern and Western Europe, under long-term net leases with built-in rent escalations.