Analyzing Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT) and Power REIT (NYSE:PW)

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

Profitability

This table compares Medical Properties Trust and Power REIT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Medical Properties Trust	-28.50%	-5.83%	-1.85%
Power REIT	-752.26%	-215.55%	-39.65%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Medical Properties Trust and Power REIT”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Medical Properties Trust	$933.52 million	3.73	-$277.05 million	($0.46)	-12.59
Power REIT	$2.08 million	1.43	-$14.37 million	($1.38)	-0.64

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Medical Properties Trust and Power REIT, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Medical Properties Trust	1	0	1	0	2.00
Power REIT	0	0	0	0	0.00

Medical Properties Trust currently has a consensus target price of $8.00, suggesting a potential upside of 38.17%. Given Medical Properties Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Medical Properties Trust is more favorable than Power REIT.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

71.8% of Medical Properties Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 14.6% of Power REIT shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Medical Properties Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.4% of Power REIT shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Medical Properties Trust has a beta of 1.43, meaning that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Power REIT has a beta of 1.61, meaning that its stock price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Medical Properties Trust beats Power REIT on 10 of the 14 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 Power REIT

Power REIT, with a focus on the Triple Bottom Line and a commitment to Profit, Planet and People is a specialized real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns sustainable real estate related to infrastructure assets including properties for Controlled Environment Agriculture, Renewable Energy and Transportation. Power REIT is actively seeking to expand its real estate portfolio related to Controlled Environment Agriculture in the form of greenhouses for the cultivation of food and cannabis.