Financial Contrast: Sabra Health Care REIT (NASDAQ:SBRA) & Welltower (NYSE:WELL)

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) and Sabra Health Care REIT (NASDAQ:SBRA) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and risk.

Volatility and Risk

Welltower has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sabra Health Care REIT has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Welltower and Sabra Health Care REIT”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Welltower	$7.35 billion	10.58	$340.09 million	$1.52	82.18
Sabra Health Care REIT	$684.29 million	5.74	$13.76 million	$0.41	40.46

Welltower has higher revenue and earnings than Sabra Health Care REIT. Sabra Health Care REIT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Welltower, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Welltower pays an annual dividend of $2.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Sabra Health Care REIT pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.2%. Welltower pays out 176.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Sabra Health Care REIT pays out 292.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.8% of Welltower shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.4% of Sabra Health Care REIT shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Welltower shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Sabra Health Care REIT shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Welltower and Sabra Health Care REIT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Welltower	12.22%	3.20%	2.00%
Sabra Health Care REIT	14.20%	3.51%	1.81%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Welltower and Sabra Health Care REIT, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Welltower	0	4	7	2	2.85
Sabra Health Care REIT	0	2	6	1	2.89

Welltower currently has a consensus target price of $127.63, indicating a potential upside of 2.17%. Sabra Health Care REIT has a consensus target price of $19.25, indicating a potential upside of 16.03%. Given Sabra Health Care REIT’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Sabra Health Care REIT is more favorable than Welltower.

Summary

Welltower beats Sabra Health Care REIT on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL), a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) and S&P 500 company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, is driving the transformation of health care infrastructure. Welltower invests with leading seniors housing operators, post-acute providers and health systems to fund the real estate infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people’s wellness and overall health care experience. Welltower owns interests in properties concentrated in major, high-growth markets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, consisting of seniors housing and post-acute communities and outpatient medical properties.

About Sabra Health Care REIT

As of September 30, 2023, Sabra's investment portfolio included 377 real estate properties held for investment (consisting of (i) 240 Skilled Nursing/Transitional Care facilities, (ii) 43 senior housing communities (Senior Housing – Leased), (iii) 61 senior housing communities operated by third-party property managers pursuant to property management agreements (Senior Housing – Managed), (iv) 18 Behavioral Health facilities and (v) 15 Specialty Hospitals and Other facilities), 12 investments in loans receivable (consisting of two mortgage loans and 10 other loans), five preferred equity investments and two investments in unconsolidated joint ventures. As of September 30, 2023, Sabra's real estate properties held for investment included 37,606 beds/units, spread across the United States and Canada.