Welltower (NYSE:WELL) versus Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT) Financial Review

Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT) and Welltower (NYSE:WELL) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Empire State Realty Trust has a beta of 1.39, suggesting that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Welltower has a beta of 1.2, suggesting that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Empire State Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.14 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Welltower pays an annual dividend of $2.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Empire State Realty Trust pays out 50.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Welltower pays out 171.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Empire State Realty Trust and Welltower, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Empire State Realty Trust	1	0	1	0	2.00
Welltower	0	2	10	2	3.00

Empire State Realty Trust currently has a consensus target price of $11.50, indicating a potential upside of 35.06%. Welltower has a consensus target price of $148.42, indicating a potential upside of 0.82%. Given Empire State Realty Trust’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Empire State Realty Trust is more favorable than Welltower.

Profitability

This table compares Empire State Realty Trust and Welltower’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Empire State Realty Trust	6.45%	2.84%	1.14%
Welltower	11.91%	3.15%	2.00%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

67.1% of Empire State Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Welltower shares are owned by institutional investors. 14.0% of Empire State Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Welltower shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Empire State Realty Trust and Welltower”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Empire State Realty Trust	$767.92 million	1.86	$53.24 million	$0.28	30.41
Welltower	$7.85 billion	12.02	$951.68 million	$1.56	94.37

Welltower has higher revenue and earnings than Empire State Realty Trust. Empire State Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Welltower, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Welltower beats Empire State Realty Trust on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Empire State Realty Trust

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESRT) is a NYC-focused REIT that owns and operates a portfolio of modernized, amenitized, and well-located office, retail, and multifamily assets. The company is the recognized leader in energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality. ESRT’s flagship Empire State Building – the “World’s Most Famous Building” – includes its Observatory, Tripadvisor’s 2023 Travelers’ Choice Awards: Best of the Best the #1 attraction in the US for two consecutive years. As of September 30, 2023, ESRT’s portfolio is comprised of approximately 8.6 million rentable square feet of office space, 0.7 million rentable square feet of retail space and 727 residential units across three multifamily properties.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL), a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) and S&P 500 company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, is driving the transformation of health care infrastructure. Welltower invests with leading seniors housing operators, post-acute providers and health systems to fund the real estate infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people’s wellness and overall health care experience. Welltower owns interests in properties concentrated in major, high-growth markets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, consisting of seniors housing and post-acute communities and outpatient medical properties.