Analyzing Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW) & MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA)

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

71.8% of Medical Properties Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.3% of MFA Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Medical Properties Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of MFA Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Medical Properties Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.4%. MFA Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.9%. Medical Properties Trust pays out -7.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. MFA Financial pays out 88.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Medical Properties Trust	N/A	-38.83%	-15.05%
MFA Financial	28.38%	9.97%	1.71%

Volatility & Risk

Medical Properties Trust has a beta of 1.29, meaning that its share price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MFA Financial has a beta of 2.11, meaning that its share price is 111% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Medical Properties Trust and MFA Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Medical Properties Trust	0	6	1	0	2.14
MFA Financial	0	0	5	0	3.00

Medical Properties Trust currently has a consensus price target of $4.92, suggesting a potential upside of 13.42%. MFA Financial has a consensus price target of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 39.23%. Given MFA Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe MFA Financial is more favorable than Medical Properties Trust.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Medical Properties Trust and MFA Financial”s gross 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	2.99	-$556.48 million	($4.22)	-1.03
MFA Financial	$605.60 million	1.69	$80.16 million	$1.59	6.32

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

Summary

MFA Financial beats Medical Properties Trust on 10 of the 15 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 MFA Financial

MFA Financial, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate investment trust in the United States. It invests in residential mortgage securities, including non-agency mortgage-backed securities, agency MBS, and credit risk transfer securities; residential whole loans, including purchased performing loans, purchased credit deteriorated, and non-performing loans; and mortgage servicing rights related assets. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is based in New York, New York.