Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT) versus Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Head-To-Head Survey

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) and Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT) are both real estate companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Welltower pays an annual dividend of $3.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Medical Properties Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.8%. Welltower pays out 156.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Medical Properties Trust pays out -600.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Welltower has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Medical Properties Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

94.8% of Welltower shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.8% of Medical Properties Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Welltower shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Medical Properties Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Welltower and Medical Properties Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Welltower	12.15%	3.56%	2.35%
Medical Properties Trust	-2.96%	-0.66%	-0.20%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Welltower and Medical Properties Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Welltower	$10.84 billion	15.96	$936.84 million	$2.18	110.07
Medical Properties Trust	$1.02 billion	2.41	-$277.05 million	($0.06)	-68.50

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Welltower and Medical Properties Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Welltower	0	3	14	0	2.82
Medical Properties Trust	1	1	0	0	1.50

Welltower presently has a consensus target price of $246.11, suggesting a potential upside of 2.57%. Medical Properties Trust has a consensus target price of $4.50, suggesting a potential upside of 9.49%. Given Medical Properties Trust’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Medical Properties Trust is more favorable than Welltower.

Volatility & Risk

Welltower has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Medical Properties Trust has a beta of 1.41, suggesting that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Welltower beats Medical Properties Trust on 12 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 Medical Properties Trust

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. is a self-advised real estate investment trust formed to capitalize on the changing trends in healthcare delivery by acquiring and developing net-leased healthcare facilities. MPT’s financing model allows hospitals and other healthcare facilities to unlock the value of their underlying real estate in order to fund facility improvements, technology upgrades, staff additions and new construction. Facilities include acute care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, long-term acute care hospitals, and other medical and surgical facilities.