Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) and Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Financial Contrast

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) and Welltower (NYSE:WELL) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.5% of Easterly Government Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Welltower shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.8% of Easterly Government Properties shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Welltower shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Easterly Government Properties	$302.05 million	3.55	$19.55 million	$0.30	77.46
Welltower	$7.99 billion	15.77	$951.68 million	$1.45	126.63

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Easterly Government Properties	4.24%	1.00%	0.42%
Welltower	9.69%	2.71%	1.75%

Risk & Volatility

Easterly Government Properties has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Welltower has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Easterly Government Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.7%. Welltower pays an annual dividend of $2.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Easterly Government Properties pays out 600.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Welltower pays out 204.1% 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Easterly Government Properties and Welltower, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Easterly Government Properties	2	2	2	0	2.00
Welltower	1	2	11	1	2.80

Easterly Government Properties presently has a consensus price target of $24.99, suggesting a potential upside of 7.55%. Welltower has a consensus price target of $204.80, suggesting a potential upside of 11.54%. Given Welltower’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Welltower is more favorable than Easterly Government Properties.

Summary

Welltower beats Easterly Government Properties on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Easterly Government Properties

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE: DEA) is based in Washington, D.C., and focuses primarily on the acquisition, development and management of Class A commercial properties that are leased to the U.S. Government. Easterly’s experienced management team brings specialized insight into the strategy and needs of mission-critical U.S. Government agencies for properties leased to such agencies either directly or through the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).

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.