National Health Investors (NHI) vs. Its Competitors Head-To-Head Survey

National Health Investors (NYSE:NHI) is one of 40 public companies in the “Healthcare REITs” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare National Health Investors to related companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

62.5% of National Health Investors shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.9% of shares of all “Healthcare REITs” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of National Health Investors shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of shares of all “Healthcare REITs” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares National Health Investors and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Health Investors	38.56%	10.89%	5.88%
National Health Investors Competitors	21.80%	4.99%	2.81%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for National Health Investors and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Health Investors	0	4	5	0	2.56
National Health Investors Competitors	422	2004	1983	84	2.38

National Health Investors presently has a consensus price target of $81.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.67%. As a group, “Healthcare REITs” companies have a potential upside of 9.22%. Given National Health Investors’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe National Health Investors is more favorable than its competitors.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares National Health Investors and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
National Health Investors	$375.63 million	$142.18 million	20.60
National Health Investors Competitors	$1.27 billion	$1.61 million	50.51

National Health Investors’ competitors have higher revenue, but lower earnings than National Health Investors. National Health Investors is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Risk and Volatility

National Health Investors has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its share price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Health Investors’ competitors have a beta of 0.85, suggesting that their average share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

National Health Investors pays an annual dividend of $3.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. National Health Investors pays out 108.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Healthcare REITs” companies pay a dividend yield of 4.1% and pay out 165.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. National Health Investors is clearly a better dividend stock than its competitors, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

National Health Investors beats its competitors on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

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.