American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) vs. National Health Investors (NYSE:NHI) Head to Head Review

American Assets Trust (NYSE:AAT) and National Health Investors (NYSE:NHI) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares American Assets Trust and National Health Investors”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Assets Trust	$457.85 million	2.85	$72.82 million	$0.89	24.01
National Health Investors	$335.18 million	9.93	$135.65 million	$3.12	23.35

National Health Investors has lower revenue, but higher earnings than American Assets Trust. National Health Investors is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Assets Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for American Assets Trust and National Health Investors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Assets Trust	0	2	0	0	2.00
National Health Investors	0	2	3	0	2.60

American Assets Trust presently has a consensus target price of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.62%. National Health Investors has a consensus target price of $76.60, suggesting a potential upside of 5.13%. Given American Assets Trust’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe American Assets Trust is more favorable than National Health Investors.

Profitability

This table compares American Assets Trust and National Health Investors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Assets Trust	12.40%	4.98%	1.80%
National Health Investors	38.53%	10.11%	5.12%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

90.4% of American Assets Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.5% of National Health Investors shares are held by institutional investors. 37.3% of American Assets Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.3% of National Health Investors shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

American Assets Trust has a beta of 1.33, suggesting that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Health Investors has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

American Assets Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.4%. National Health Investors pays an annual dividend of $3.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. American Assets Trust pays out 152.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. 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 American Assets Trust on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Assets Trust

American Assets Trust, Inc. is a full service, vertically integrated and self-administered real estate investment trust ("REIT"), headquartered in San Diego, California. The company has over 55 years of experience in acquiring, improving, developing and managing premier office, retail, and residential properties throughout the United States in some of the nation's most dynamic, high-barrier-to-entry markets primarily in Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Texas and Hawaii. The company's office portfolio comprises approximately 4.1 million rentable square feet, and its retail portfolio comprises approximately 3.1 million rentable square feet. In addition, the company owns one mixed-use property (including approximately 94,000 rentable square feet of retail space and a 369-room all-suite hotel) and 2,110 multifamily units. In 2011, the company was formed to succeed to the real estate business of American Assets, Inc., a privately held corporation founded in 1967 and, as such, has significant experience, long-standing relationships and extensive knowledge of its core markets, submarkets and asset classes.

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.