Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) versus National Health Investors (NYSE:NHI) Head-To-Head Survey

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) and National Health Investors (NYSE:NHI) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

Crown Castle has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Health Investors has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Crown Castle	10.41%	-76.56%	3.49%
National Health Investors	37.81%	9.56%	5.18%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

90.8% of Crown Castle shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.5% of National Health Investors shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Crown Castle shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.2% of National Health Investors shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Crown Castle and National Health Investors”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Crown Castle	$4.26 billion	8.83	$444.00 million	$1.01	85.41
National Health Investors	$375.63 million	10.95	$142.18 million	$3.02	28.11

Crown Castle has higher revenue and earnings than National Health Investors. National Health Investors is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Crown Castle, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Crown Castle pays an annual dividend of $4.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. National Health Investors pays an annual dividend of $3.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Crown Castle pays out 420.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. National Health Investors pays out 121.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Crown Castle and National Health Investors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Crown Castle	0	10	9	2	2.62
National Health Investors	0	2	4	1	2.86

Crown Castle presently has a consensus target price of $98.13, suggesting a potential upside of 13.76%. National Health Investors has a consensus target price of $86.83, suggesting a potential upside of 2.28%. Given Crown Castle’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Crown Castle is more favorable than National Health Investors.

Summary

Crown Castle beats National Health Investors on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Crown Castle

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 90,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major U.S. market. This nationwide portfolio of communications infrastructure connects cities and communities to essential data, technology and wireless service – bringing information, ideas and innovations to the people and businesses that need them.

About National Health Investors

Incorporated in 1991, National Health Investors, Inc. (NYSE:NHI) is a real estate investment trust specializing in sale, leasebacks, joint-ventures, senior housing operating partnerships, and mortgage and mezzanine financing of need-driven and discretionary senior housing and medical investments. NHI's portfolio consists of independent living, assisted living and memory care communities, entrance-fee retirement communities, skilled nursing facilities, and specialty hospitals.