Contrasting Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT) and Equity Commonwealth (NYSE:EQC)

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

Risk and Volatility

Medical Properties Trust has a beta of 1.43, suggesting that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equity Commonwealth has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Medical Properties Trust and Equity Commonwealth”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Medical Properties Trust	$995.55 million	3.63	-$2.41 billion	($1.18)	-5.09
Equity Commonwealth	$58.43 million	2.90	$91.16 million	$0.39	4.05

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Medical Properties Trust and Equity Commonwealth, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Medical Properties Trust	1	0	1	0	2.00
Equity Commonwealth	0	0	0	0	0.00

Medical Properties Trust presently has a consensus target price of $8.00, suggesting a potential upside of 33.11%. Given Medical Properties Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Medical Properties Trust is more favorable than Equity Commonwealth.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.8% of Medical Properties Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.0% of Equity Commonwealth shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Medical Properties Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Equity Commonwealth shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Medical Properties Trust	-75.76%	-14.82%	-4.78%
Equity Commonwealth	82.00%	2.09%	1.96%

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 Equity Commonwealth

Equity Commonwealth (NYSE: EQC) is a Chicago based, internally managed and self-advised real estate investment trust (REIT) with commercial office properties in the United States. EQC's portfolio is comprised of four properties totaling 1.5 million square feet.