Critical Comparison: CareTrust REIT (CTRE) vs. The Competition

CareTrust REIT (NYSE:CTRE) is one of 40 publicly-traded companies in the “Healthcare REITs” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare CareTrust REIT to related businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, risk and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares CareTrust REIT and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CareTrust REIT	59.18%	8.08%	6.06%
CareTrust REIT Competitors	26.19%	6.15%	3.48%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for CareTrust REIT and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CareTrust REIT	0	4	10	1	2.80
CareTrust REIT Competitors	423	2011	1999	86	2.39

CareTrust REIT presently has a consensus price target of $43.71, indicating a potential upside of 14.74%. As a group, “Healthcare REITs” companies have a potential upside of 11.29%. Given CareTrust REIT’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe CareTrust REIT is more favorable than its peers.

Dividends

CareTrust REIT pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. CareTrust REIT pays out 98.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Healthcare REITs” companies pay a dividend yield of 4.1% and pay out 121.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. CareTrust REIT has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. CareTrust REIT is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares CareTrust REIT and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
CareTrust REIT	$482.83 million	$320.54 million	23.96
CareTrust REIT Competitors	$1.23 billion	$1.61 million	-11.39

CareTrust REIT’s peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than CareTrust REIT. CareTrust REIT is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

87.8% of CareTrust REIT shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.4% of shares of all “Healthcare REITs” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of CareTrust REIT 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 large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

CareTrust REIT has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CareTrust REIT’s peers have a beta of 0.85, suggesting that their average stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

CareTrust REIT beats its peers on 12 of the 15 factors compared.

About CareTrust REIT

CareTrust REIT, Inc. is a real estate investment trust that owns and invests in healthcare-related properties, with a focus on skilled nursing facilities and senior housing. Its portfolio also includes assisted living and other properties that serve older adults and people requiring healthcare services. The company primarily works with healthcare operators through long-term property leases and other real estate investments. CareTrust’s properties are located across the United States, and the company has expanded its investments into the United Kingdom.