Critical Survey: Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) and Boston Properties (NYSE:BXP)

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) and Boston Properties (NYSE:BXP) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership and profitability.

Dividends

Medical Properties Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.9%. Boston Properties pays an annual dividend of $3.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Medical Properties Trust pays out -11.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Boston Properties pays out 169.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Medical Properties Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Medical Properties Trust and Boston Properties”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Medical Properties Trust	$871.80 million	3.19	-$556.48 million	($2.69)	-1.72
Boston Properties	$3.34 billion	3.78	$190.21 million	$2.31	34.87

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Medical Properties Trust	N/A	-22.26%	-9.06%
Boston Properties	5.01%	2.05%	0.66%

Volatility and Risk

Medical Properties Trust has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Boston Properties has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Medical Properties Trust and Boston Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Medical Properties Trust	1	8	1	0	2.00
Boston Properties	0	6	6	0	2.50

Medical Properties Trust presently has a consensus price target of $5.38, suggesting a potential upside of 15.84%. Boston Properties has a consensus price target of $80.75, suggesting a potential upside of 0.24%. Given Medical Properties Trust’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Medical Properties Trust is more favorable than Boston Properties.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

71.8% of Medical Properties Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.7% of Boston Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Medical Properties Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Boston Properties shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Boston Properties beats Medical Properties Trust on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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 441 facilities and approximately 44,000 licensed beds as of September 30, 2023. Since the end of the third quarter, the Company has sold four facilities and now owns approximately 43,000 licensed beds in nine countries across three 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.

About Boston Properties

Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE: BXP) (BXP or the Company) is the largest publicly traded developer, owner, and manager of premier workplaces in the United States, concentrated in six dynamic gateway markets – Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC. BXP has delivered places that power progress for our clients and communities for more than 50 years. BXP is a fully integrated real estate company, organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT). Including properties owned by joint ventures, BXP's portfolio totals 53.3 million square feet and 188 properties, including 10 properties under construction/redevelopment. BXP's properties include 167 office properties, 14 retail properties (including two retail properties under construction/redevelopment), six residential properties (including one residential property under construction) and one hotel. BXP is well-known for its inhouse building management expertise and responsiveness to clients' needs. BXP holds a superior track record of developing premium Central Business District (CBD) office buildings, successful mixed-use complexes, suburban office centers and build-to-suit projects for a diverse array of creditworthy clients. BXP actively works to promote its growth and operations in a sustainable and responsible manner. BXP has earned a twelfth consecutive GRESB Green Star recognition and the highest GRESB 5-star Rating. BXP, an S&P 500 company, was founded in 1970 by Mortimer B. Zuckerman and Edward H. Linde and became a public company in 1997.