National Health Investors (NHI) and Its Competitors Critical Survey

National Health Investors (NYSE:NHI) is one of 40 public companies in the “Healthcare REITs” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare National Health Investors to related businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, profitability, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

62.5% of National Health Investors shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.9% of shares of all “Healthcare REITs” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of National Health Investors shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of shares of all “Healthcare REITs” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for National Health Investors and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Health Investors	0	4	4	1	2.67
National Health Investors Competitors	423	2007	1995	86	2.39

National Health Investors currently has a consensus target price of $81.00, indicating a potential upside of 23.16%. As a group, “Healthcare REITs” companies have a potential upside of 9.49%. Given National Health Investors’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe National Health Investors is more favorable than its peers.

Dividends

National Health Investors pays an annual dividend of $3.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. National Health Investors pays out 26.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Healthcare REITs” companies pay a dividend yield of 4.1% and pay out 121.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. National Health Investors is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

National Health Investors has a beta of 0.51, meaning that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Health Investors’ peers have a beta of 0.85, meaning that their average share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares National Health Investors and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Health Investors	$455.75 million	$142.18 million	4.62
National Health Investors Competitors	$1.28 billion	$1.61 million	-11.87

National Health Investors’ peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than National Health Investors. National Health Investors is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares National Health Investors and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Health Investors	152.82%	45.12%	24.15%
National Health Investors Competitors	26.19%	6.30%	3.51%

Summary

National Health Investors beats its peers on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

National Health Investors Company Profile

National Health Investors, Inc. (NYSE: NHI) is a real estate investment trust that owns and finances properties used for senior housing and health care. Founded in 1991, the company is headquartered in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. NHI’s portfolio includes senior housing communities, such as independent living, assisted living and memory care properties, as well as skilled nursing facilities. It typically works with health care operators through property leases and mortgage loans. The company serves markets across the United States.