Analyzing COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) & Global Medical REIT (NYSE:XRN)

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) and Global Medical REIT (NYSE:XRN) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

COPT Defense Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Global Medical REIT pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. COPT Defense Properties pays out 92.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Global Medical REIT pays out -173.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Global Medical REIT is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

COPT Defense Properties has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Global Medical REIT has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for COPT Defense Properties and Global Medical REIT, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
COPT Defense Properties	0	3	5	0	2.63
Global Medical REIT	1	4	2	1	2.38

COPT Defense Properties presently has a consensus target price of $35.00, suggesting a potential downside of 3.99%. Global Medical REIT has a consensus target price of $40.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.73%. Given Global Medical REIT’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Global Medical REIT is more favorable than COPT Defense Properties.

Profitability

This table compares COPT Defense Properties and Global Medical REIT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
COPT Defense Properties	20.10%	10.02%	3.51%
Global Medical REIT	-6.06%	-2.19%	-0.73%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

57.5% of Global Medical REIT shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of COPT Defense Properties shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of Global Medical REIT shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares COPT Defense Properties and Global Medical REIT”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
COPT Defense Properties	$763.92 million	5.41	$152.32 million	$1.38	26.42
Global Medical REIT	$148.21 million	3.35	-$5.84 million	($1.11)	-33.76

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

Summary

COPT Defense Properties beats Global Medical REIT on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About COPT Defense Properties

COPT Defense Properties is a real estate investment trust. It acquires, develops, manages, sells, and leases out office properties and data centers. The firm operates through the following segments: Defense/Information Technology Locations, Regional Office, Wholesale Data Center, and Other. The company was founded on January 22,1988 and is headquartered in Columbia, MD.

About Global Medical REIT

Global Medical REIT Inc. (GMRE) is a net-lease medical office real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and acquires healthcare facilities and leases those facilities to physician groups and regional and national healthcare systems.