Comparing Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) & W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC)

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) and Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

73.7% of W. P. Carey shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.8% of Medical Properties Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of W. P. Carey shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Medical Properties Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
W. P. Carey	35.12%	6.45%	3.14%
Medical Properties Trust	N/A	-38.83%	-15.05%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares W. P. Carey and Medical Properties Trust”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
W. P. Carey	$1.59 billion	7.47	$708.33 million	$2.54	21.36
Medical Properties Trust	$871.80 million	2.66	-$556.48 million	($4.22)	-0.91

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for W. P. Carey and Medical Properties Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
W. P. Carey	1	6	2	0	2.11
Medical Properties Trust	0	7	1	0	2.13

W. P. Carey currently has a consensus target price of $63.25, suggesting a potential upside of 16.59%. Medical Properties Trust has a consensus target price of $4.92, suggesting a potential upside of 27.37%. Given Medical Properties Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Medical Properties Trust is more favorable than W. P. Carey.

Volatility and Risk

W. P. Carey has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Medical Properties Trust has a beta of 1.29, suggesting that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

W. P. Carey pays an annual dividend of $3.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.5%. Medical Properties Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.3%. W. P. Carey pays out 138.6% 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 -7.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Medical Properties Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

W. P. Carey beats Medical Properties Trust on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About W. P. Carey

W. P. Carey ranks among the largest net lease REITs with a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality, operationally critical commercial real estate, which includes 1,424 net lease properties covering approximately 173 million square feet and a portfolio of 89 self-storage operating properties as of December 31, 2023. With offices in New York, London, Amsterdam and Dallas, the company remains focused on investing primarily in single-tenant, industrial, warehouse and retail properties located in the U.S. and Northern and Western Europe, under long-term net leases with built-in rent escalations.

About Medical Properties Trust

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. is a self-advised real estate investment trust formed in 2003 to acquire and develop net-leased hospital facilities. From its inception in Birmingham, Alabama, the Company has grown to become one of the world's largest owners of hospital real estate with 441 facilities and approximately 44,000 licensed beds as of September 30, 2023. Since the end of the third quarter, the Company has sold four facilities and now owns approximately 43,000 licensed beds in nine countries across three continents. MPT's financing model facilitates acquisitions and recapitalizations and allows operators of hospitals to unlock the value of their real estate assets to fund facility improvements, technology upgrades and other investments in operations.