Critical Contrast: Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT) versus Empiric Student Property (OTCMKTS:EPCFF)

Empiric Student Property (OTCMKTS:EPCFF) and Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Empiric Student Property and Medical Properties Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Empiric Student Property	0	0	0	0	0.00
Medical Properties Trust	1	1	0	0	1.50

Medical Properties Trust has a consensus price target of $4.50, suggesting a potential downside of 5.06%. Given Medical Properties Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Medical Properties Trust is more favorable than Empiric Student Property.

Profitability

This table compares Empiric Student Property and Medical Properties Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Empiric Student Property	N/A	N/A	N/A
Medical Properties Trust	-12.59%	-2.70%	-0.84%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Empiric Student Property and Medical Properties Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Empiric Student Property	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Medical Properties Trust	$1.00 billion	2.83	-$277.05 million	($0.21)	-22.57

Empiric Student Property has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Medical Properties Trust.

Summary

Medical Properties Trust beats Empiric Student Property on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Empiric Student Property

Empiric Student Property plc is a leading provider and operator of modern, predominantly direct-let, premium student accommodation serving key UK universities. Investing in both operating and development assets, Empiric is a fully integrated operational student property business focused on premium studio-led accommodation managed through its Hello Student operating platform, that is attractive to affluent growing student segments. The Company, an internally managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") incorporated in England and Wales, listed on the premium listing segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority, was admitted to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange in June 2014. The Company is classified as a commercial company listed under chapter 6 of the UK Listing rules and as such is not an alternative investment fund ("AIF") for the purposes of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive ("AIFMD") and is not required to provide investors with a Key information Document ("KID") in accordance with the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products ("PRIIPs") regulations.

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.