W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC – Get Free Report) and Medalist Diversified REIT (NASDAQ:MDRR – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Dividends
W.P. Carey pays an annual dividend of $3.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Medalist Diversified REIT pays an annual dividend of $0.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. W.P. Carey pays out 174.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Medalist Diversified REIT pays out -14.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. W.P. Carey has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Medalist Diversified REIT has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.
Volatility and Risk
W.P. Carey has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Medalist Diversified REIT has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| W.P. Carey | 1 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2.18 |
| Medalist Diversified REIT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
W.P. Carey currently has a consensus price target of $71.90, suggesting a potential upside of 6.52%. Given W.P. Carey’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe W.P. Carey is more favorable than Medalist Diversified REIT.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
73.7% of W.P. Carey shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 17.4% of Medalist Diversified REIT shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of W.P. Carey shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 43.8% of Medalist Diversified REIT shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares W.P. Carey and Medalist Diversified REIT”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| W.P. Carey | $1.72 billion | 8.62 | $466.36 million | $2.11 | 31.99 |
| Medalist Diversified REIT | $10.40 million | 1.54 | -$2.39 million | ($1.84) | -6.09 |
W.P. Carey has higher revenue and earnings than Medalist Diversified REIT. Medalist Diversified REIT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than W.P. Carey, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares W.P. Carey and Medalist Diversified REIT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| W.P. Carey | 27.17% | 5.67% | 2.62% |
| Medalist Diversified REIT | -22.37% | -9.28% | -2.86% |
Summary
W.P. Carey beats Medalist Diversified REIT on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About W.P. Carey
W. P. Carey ranks among the largest net lease REITs with a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality, operationally critical commercial real estate, which includes 1,424 net lease properties covering approximately 173 million square feet and a portfolio of 89 self-storage operating properties as of December 31, 2023. With offices in New York, London, Amsterdam and Dallas, the company remains focused on investing primarily in single-tenant, industrial, warehouse and retail properties located in the U.S. and Northern and Western Europe, under long-term net leases with built-in rent escalations.
About Medalist Diversified REIT
Medalist Diversified REIT Inc. is a Virginia-based real estate investment trust that specializes in acquiring, owning and managing commercial real estate in the Southeast region of the U.S. The Company's strategy is to focus on commercial real estate which is expected to provide an attractive balance of risk and returns. Medalist utilizes a rigorous, consistent and replicable process for sourcing and conducting due diligence of acquisitions.
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