Head to Head Contrast: LTC Properties (NYSE:LTC) & Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT)

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

Risk and Volatility

Medical Properties Trust has a beta of 1.4, suggesting that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LTC Properties has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

71.8% of Medical Properties Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.3% of LTC Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Medical Properties Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of LTC Properties 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.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Medical Properties Trust and LTC Properties”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Medical Properties Trust	$972.02 million	2.20	-$277.05 million	($0.06)	-59.67
LTC Properties	$262.85 million	8.75	$117.97 million	$2.71	15.74

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Medical Properties Trust	-2.96%	-0.66%	-0.20%
LTC Properties	38.84%	11.42%	6.45%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Medical Properties Trust and LTC Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Medical Properties Trust	2	1	0	0	1.33
LTC Properties	0	4	6	0	2.60

Medical Properties Trust presently has a consensus target price of $4.15, indicating a potential upside of 15.92%. LTC Properties has a consensus target price of $44.43, indicating a potential upside of 4.16%. Given Medical Properties Trust’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Medical Properties Trust is more favorable than LTC Properties.

Dividends

Medical Properties Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.1%. LTC Properties pays an annual dividend of $2.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Medical Properties Trust pays out -600.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. LTC Properties pays out 84.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Medical Properties Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

LTC Properties beats Medical Properties Trust on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About LTC Properties

LTC Properties, Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which engages in managing seniors housing and health care properties. It operates through the Texas, Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Remaining States geographic segments. The company was founded by Andre C. Dimitriadis on May 12, 1992 and is headquartered in Westlake Village, CA.