Head to Head Review: Medalist Diversified REIT (NASDAQ:MDRR) & National Health Investors (NYSE:NHI)

Medalist Diversified REIT (NASDAQ:MDRR) and National Health Investors (NYSE:NHI) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Medalist Diversified REIT and National Health Investors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Medalist Diversified REIT	-2.18%	-18.35%	-3.87%
National Health Investors	38.53%	10.11%	5.12%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Medalist Diversified REIT and National Health Investors”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Medalist Diversified REIT	$9.74 million	1.77	-$4.57 million	($0.22)	-57.50
National Health Investors	$335.18 million	9.74	$135.65 million	$3.12	22.90

National Health Investors has higher revenue and earnings than Medalist Diversified REIT. Medalist Diversified REIT 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Medalist Diversified REIT and National Health Investors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Medalist Diversified REIT	0	0	0	0	0.00
National Health Investors	0	2	2	0	2.50

National Health Investors has a consensus price target of $85.50, indicating a potential upside of 19.67%. Given National Health Investors’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe National Health Investors is more favorable than Medalist Diversified REIT.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

17.4% of Medalist Diversified REIT shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.5% of National Health Investors shares are owned by institutional investors. 56.1% of Medalist Diversified REIT shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.3% of National Health Investors shares are owned 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.

Risk and Volatility

Medalist Diversified REIT has a beta of 0.3, meaning that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Health Investors has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Medalist Diversified REIT pays an annual dividend of $0.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. National Health Investors pays an annual dividend of $3.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Medalist Diversified REIT pays out -118.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. National Health Investors pays out 115.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

National Health Investors beats Medalist Diversified REIT on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.