Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) versus Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Head to Head Analysis

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) and Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Welltower and Easterly Government Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Welltower	1	2	11	1	2.80
Easterly Government Properties	2	2	2	0	2.00

Welltower currently has a consensus price target of $204.80, indicating a potential upside of 8.77%. Easterly Government Properties has a consensus price target of $24.99, indicating a potential upside of 8.12%. Given Welltower’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Welltower is more favorable than Easterly Government Properties.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Welltower and Easterly Government Properties”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Welltower	$7.99 billion	16.17	$951.68 million	$1.45	129.86
Easterly Government Properties	$302.05 million	3.53	$19.55 million	$0.30	77.05

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

Dividends

Welltower pays an annual dividend of $2.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Easterly Government Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.8%. Welltower pays out 204.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Easterly Government Properties pays out 600.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Welltower has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Risk and Volatility

Welltower has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Easterly Government Properties has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.8% of Welltower shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.5% of Easterly Government Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Welltower shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.8% of Easterly Government Properties shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Welltower and Easterly Government Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Welltower	9.69%	2.71%	1.75%
Easterly Government Properties	4.24%	1.00%	0.42%

Summary

Welltower beats Easterly Government Properties on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Easterly Government Properties

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE: DEA) is based in Washington, D.C., and focuses primarily on the acquisition, development and management of Class A commercial properties that are leased to the U.S. Government. Easterly’s experienced management team brings specialized insight into the strategy and needs of mission-critical U.S. Government agencies for properties leased to such agencies either directly or through the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).