Analyzing Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) and Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA)

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) and Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Mid-America Apartment Communities and Medical Properties Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mid-America Apartment Communities	$2.19 billion	8.98	$527.54 million	$4.48	37.56
Medical Properties Trust	$641.32 million	5.52	-$556.48 million	($4.22)	-1.40

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

Dividends

Mid-America Apartment Communities pays an annual dividend of $6.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Medical Properties Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Mid-America Apartment Communities pays out 135.3% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Mid-America Apartment Communities and Medical Properties Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mid-America Apartment Communities	24.03%	8.53%	4.52%
Medical Properties Trust	N/A	-38.83%	-15.05%

Risk and Volatility

Mid-America Apartment Communities has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Medical Properties Trust has a beta of 1.32, meaning that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.6% of Mid-America Apartment Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.8% of Medical Properties Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Mid-America Apartment Communities shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Medical Properties Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Mid-America Apartment Communities and Medical Properties Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mid-America Apartment Communities	1	8	10	1	2.55
Medical Properties Trust	0	6	1	0	2.14

Mid-America Apartment Communities currently has a consensus target price of $167.00, suggesting a potential downside of 0.77%. Medical Properties Trust has a consensus target price of $4.92, suggesting a potential downside of 16.60%. Given Mid-America Apartment Communities’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Mid-America Apartment Communities is more favorable than Medical Properties Trust.

Summary

Mid-America Apartment Communities beats Medical Properties Trust on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mid-America Apartment Communities

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the operation, acquisition, and development of apartment communities. It operates through the Same Store and Non-Same Store segments. The Same Store Communities segment represents those apartment communities that have been owned and stabilized for at least 12 months as of the first day of the calendar year. The Non-Same Store segment includes recent acquisitions, communities in development or lease-up. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Germantown, TN.

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.