Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS – Get Free Report) and Diversified Healthcare Trust (NASDAQ:DHC – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Equity LifeStyle Properties and Diversified Healthcare Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Equity LifeStyle Properties | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2.56 |
| Diversified Healthcare Trust | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Equity LifeStyle Properties presently has a consensus target price of $71.38, suggesting a potential upside of 1.95%. Diversified Healthcare Trust has a consensus target price of $4.50, suggesting a potential upside of 18.73%. Given Diversified Healthcare Trust’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Diversified Healthcare Trust is more favorable than Equity LifeStyle Properties.
Volatility and Risk
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Equity LifeStyle Properties and Diversified Healthcare Trust”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Equity LifeStyle Properties | $1.43 billion | 9.13 | $314.21 million | $1.83 | 38.26 |
| Diversified Healthcare Trust | $1.46 billion | 0.62 | -$293.57 million | ($1.37) | -2.77 |
Equity LifeStyle Properties has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Diversified Healthcare Trust. Diversified Healthcare Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Equity LifeStyle Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
97.2% of Equity LifeStyle Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.0% of Diversified Healthcare Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Equity LifeStyle Properties shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Diversified Healthcare Trust 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.
Profitability
This table compares Equity LifeStyle Properties and Diversified Healthcare Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Equity LifeStyle Properties | 23.56% | 23.71% | 6.34% |
| Diversified Healthcare Trust | -24.14% | -15.36% | -6.51% |
Dividends
Equity LifeStyle Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.91 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Diversified Healthcare Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Equity LifeStyle Properties pays out 104.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Diversified Healthcare Trust pays out -2.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Equity LifeStyle Properties has raised its dividend for 20 consecutive years. Equity LifeStyle Properties is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Summary
Equity LifeStyle Properties beats Diversified Healthcare Trust on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Equity LifeStyle Properties
We are a self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) with headquarters in Chicago. As of January 29, 2024, we own or have an interest in 451 properties in 35 states and British Columbia consisting of 172,465 sites.
About Diversified Healthcare Trust
DHC is a real estate investment trust, or REIT, focused on owning high-quality healthcare properties located throughout the United States. DHC seeks diversification across the health services spectrum by care delivery and practice type, by scientific research disciplines and by property type and location. As of December 31, 2023, DHC's approximately $7.2 billion portfolio included 371 properties in 36 states and Washington, D.C., occupied by approximately 500 tenants, and totaling approximately 8.6 million square feet of life science and medical office properties and more than 27,000 senior living units. DHC is managed by The RMR Group (Nasdaq: RMR), a leading U.S. alternative asset management company with over $41 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2023 and more than 35 years of institutional experience in buying, selling, financing and operating commercial real estate. DHC is headquartered in Newton, MA.
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