Contrasting DigitalBridge Group (NYSE:DBRG) and Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW)

DigitalBridge Group (NYSE:DBRG) and Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for DigitalBridge Group and Medical Properties Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DigitalBridge Group	0	0	7	1	3.13
Medical Properties Trust	4	5	3	0	1.92

DigitalBridge Group presently has a consensus target price of $21.94, indicating a potential upside of 40.85%. Medical Properties Trust has a consensus target price of $8.83, indicating a potential upside of 107.84%. Given Medical Properties Trust’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Medical Properties Trust is more favorable than DigitalBridge Group.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DigitalBridge Group	4.50%	1.39%	0.44%
Medical Properties Trust	-2.40%	-0.39%	-0.17%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares DigitalBridge Group and Medical Properties Trust’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DigitalBridge Group	$1.14 billion	2.21	-$321.80 million	($0.21)	-74.19
Medical Properties Trust	$1.54 billion	1.65	$902.60 million	($0.07)	-60.71

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

Dividends

DigitalBridge Group pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Medical Properties Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.1%. DigitalBridge Group pays out -19.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Medical Properties Trust pays out -857.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Medical Properties Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility & Risk

DigitalBridge Group has a beta of 2.06, suggesting that its stock price is 106% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Medical Properties Trust has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.4% of DigitalBridge Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.5% of Medical Properties Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of DigitalBridge Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Medical Properties Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

DigitalBridge Group beats Medical Properties Trust on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About DigitalBridge Group

DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG) is a leading global digital infrastructure firm. With a heritage of over 25 years investing in and operating businesses across the digital ecosystem including cell towers, data centers, fiber, small cells, and edge infrastructure, the DigitalBridge team manages a $69 billion portfolio of digital infrastructure assets on behalf of its limited partners and shareholders. Headquartered in Boca Raton, DigitalBridge has key offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Luxembourg and Singapore.

About Medical Properties Trust

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. is a self-advised real estate investment trust formed in 2003 to acquire and develop net-leased hospital facilities. From its inception in Birmingham, Alabama, the Company has grown to become one of the world's largest owners of hospital real estate with 444 facilities and approximately 44,000 licensed beds in ten countries and across four continents. MPT's financing model facilitates acquisitions and recapitalizations and allows operators of hospitals to unlock the value of their real estate assets to fund facility improvements, technology upgrades and other investments in operations.