Comparing Global Medical REIT (NYSE:XRN) & Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT)

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

Volatility & Risk

Medical Properties Trust has a beta of 1.45, meaning that its stock price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Global Medical REIT has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Medical Properties Trust	$972.02 million	1.85	-$277.05 million	($0.06)	-50.17
Global Medical REIT	$148.21 million	2.70	-$5.84 million	$3.72	8.13

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.8% of Medical Properties Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.5% of Global Medical REIT shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Medical Properties Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of Global Medical REIT shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Medical Properties Trust and Global Medical REIT, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Medical Properties Trust	2	1	0	0	1.33
Global Medical REIT	0	7	2	0	2.22

Medical Properties Trust currently has a consensus price target of $4.15, indicating a potential upside of 37.87%. Global Medical REIT has a consensus price target of $40.17, indicating a potential upside of 32.80%. Given Medical Properties Trust’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Medical Properties Trust is more favorable than Global Medical REIT.

Profitability

This table compares Medical Properties Trust and Global Medical REIT’s 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%
Global Medical REIT	36.82%	13.31%	4.41%

Dividends

Medical Properties Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.0%. Global Medical REIT pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Medical Properties Trust pays out -600.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Global Medical REIT pays out 51.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Medical Properties Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Global Medical REIT 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 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.