Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR – Get Free Report) and Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Healthcare Realty Trust and Lamar Advertising, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Healthcare Realty Trust | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Lamar Advertising | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.20 |
Healthcare Realty Trust currently has a consensus price target of $17.17, suggesting a potential downside of 0.31%. Lamar Advertising has a consensus price target of $132.40, suggesting a potential upside of 2.64%. Given Lamar Advertising’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Lamar Advertising is more favorable than Healthcare Realty Trust.
Risk & Volatility
Dividends
Healthcare Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.2%. Lamar Advertising pays an annual dividend of $5.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Healthcare Realty Trust pays out -78.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lamar Advertising pays out 112.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Healthcare Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
93.8% of Lamar Advertising shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Healthcare Realty Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.0% of Lamar Advertising shares are held 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.
Profitability
This table compares Healthcare Realty Trust and Lamar Advertising’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Healthcare Realty Trust | -45.63% | -9.42% | -4.90% |
| Lamar Advertising | 23.46% | 42.58% | 7.82% |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Healthcare Realty Trust and Lamar Advertising”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Healthcare Realty Trust | $1.34 billion | 4.54 | -$278.26 million | ($1.58) | -10.90 |
| Lamar Advertising | $2.11 billion | 6.26 | $495.76 million | $5.00 | 25.80 |
Lamar Advertising has higher revenue and earnings than Healthcare Realty Trust. Healthcare Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lamar Advertising, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Lamar Advertising beats Healthcare Realty Trust on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Healthcare Realty Trust
Healthcare Realty (NYSE: HR) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and operates medical outpatient buildings primarily located around market-leading hospital campuses. The Company selectively grows its portfolio through property acquisition and development. As the first and largest REIT to specialize in medical outpatient buildings, Healthcare Realty's portfolio includes more than 700 properties totaling over 40 million square feet concentrated in 15 growth markets.
About Lamar Advertising
Lamar Advertising Company operates as an outdoor advertising company in the United States and Canada. The company owns and operates billboards, logo signs, and transit advertising displays, as well as rents space for advertising on billboards, buses, shelters, benches, logo plates, and in airport terminals. Lamar Advertising Company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Receive News & Ratings for Healthcare Realty Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Healthcare Realty Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
