Welltower (NYSE:WELL) and Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) Financial Survey

Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) and Welltower (NYSE:WELL) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Risk & Volatility

Vornado Realty Trust has a beta of 1.49, meaning that its share price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Welltower has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Vornado Realty Trust and Welltower’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vornado Realty Trust	49.91%	19.48%	5.75%
Welltower	9.69%	2.71%	1.75%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

90.0% of Vornado Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Welltower shares are held by institutional investors. 8.4% of Vornado Realty Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Welltower shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Vornado Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Welltower pays an annual dividend of $2.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Vornado Realty Trust pays out 17.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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. Welltower has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Vornado Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Vornado Realty Trust and Welltower, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vornado Realty Trust	2	9	3	0	2.07
Welltower	1	2	11	1	2.80

Vornado Realty Trust currently has a consensus target price of $38.46, suggesting a potential upside of 11.53%. Welltower has a consensus target price of $204.80, suggesting a potential upside of 10.04%. Given Vornado Realty Trust’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Vornado Realty Trust is more favorable than Welltower.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Vornado Realty Trust and Welltower”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vornado Realty Trust	$1.79 billion	3.70	$70.39 million	$4.20	8.21
Welltower	$7.99 billion	15.99	$951.68 million	$1.45	128.36

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

About Vornado Realty Trust

Vornado Realty Trust is a fully – integrated equity real estate investment trust.

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.