Head to Head Contrast: National Health Investors (NYSE:NHI) vs. Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD)

Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) and National Health Investors (NYSE:NHI) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Americold Realty Trust and National Health Investors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Americold Realty Trust	4	8	4	0	2.00
National Health Investors	1	2	5	0	2.50

Americold Realty Trust currently has a consensus price target of $15.25, suggesting a potential upside of 6.53%. National Health Investors has a consensus price target of $83.86, suggesting a potential upside of 4.19%. Given Americold Realty Trust’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Americold Realty Trust is more favorable than National Health Investors.

Volatility and Risk

Americold Realty Trust has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Health Investors has a beta of 0.51, indicating that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.1% of Americold Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.5% of National Health Investors shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Americold Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of National Health Investors shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Americold Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.4%. National Health Investors pays an annual dividend of $3.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Americold Realty Trust pays out -235.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. National Health Investors pays out 118.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Americold Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Americold Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Americold Realty Trust and National Health Investors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Americold Realty Trust	-4.29%	-3.73%	-1.38%
National Health Investors	36.86%	9.82%	5.35%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Americold Realty Trust and National Health Investors”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Americold Realty Trust	$2.60 billion	1.57	-$114.55 million	($0.39)	-36.71
National Health Investors	$375.63 million	10.39	$142.18 million	$3.10	25.96

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

Summary

National Health Investors beats Americold Realty Trust on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Americold Realty Trust

Americold Realty Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which focuses on the ownership, operation, development, and acquisition of temperature-controlled warehouses. It operates through the following segments: Warehouse, Third-Party Managed, Transportation, and Other. The Warehouse segment collects rent and storage fees from customers to store frozen and perishable food and other products within the firm’s real estate portfolio. The Third-Party Managed segment manages warehouses on behalf of third parties and provides warehouse management services to food retailers and manufacturers in customer-owned facilities. The Transportation segment is involved in brokering and managing transportation of frozen and perishable food and other products. The Other segment includes ownership in a limestone quarry in Carthage, Missouri. The company was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.

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.