Reviewing Welltower (NYSE:WELL) & Boston Properties (NYSE:BXP)

Boston Properties (NYSE:BXP) and Welltower (NYSE:WELL) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Boston Properties and Welltower, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Boston Properties	1	5	7	0	2.46
Welltower	0	2	9	2	3.00

Boston Properties presently has a consensus target price of $80.85, suggesting a potential upside of 16.36%. Welltower has a consensus target price of $156.46, suggesting a potential upside of 4.19%. Given Boston Properties’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Boston Properties is more favorable than Welltower.

Profitability

This table compares Boston Properties and Welltower’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Boston Properties	0.38%	3.90%	1.24%
Welltower	11.91%	3.15%	2.00%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.7% of Boston Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.8% of Welltower shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Boston Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Welltower shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Boston Properties and Welltower”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Boston Properties	$3.41 billion	3.23	$14.27 million	$0.10	694.82
Welltower	$7.85 billion	12.26	$951.68 million	$1.56	96.26

Welltower has higher revenue and earnings than Boston Properties. Welltower is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Boston Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Boston Properties pays an annual dividend of $3.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Welltower pays an annual dividend of $2.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Boston Properties pays out 3,920.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Welltower pays out 171.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Risk and Volatility

Boston Properties has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Welltower has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Welltower beats Boston Properties on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Boston Properties

Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE: BXP) (BXP or the Company) is the largest publicly traded developer, owner, and manager of premier workplaces in the United States, concentrated in six dynamic gateway markets – Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC. BXP has delivered places that power progress for our clients and communities for more than 50 years. BXP is a fully integrated real estate company, organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT). Including properties owned by joint ventures, BXP's portfolio totals 53.3 million square feet and 188 properties, including 10 properties under construction/redevelopment. BXP's properties include 167 office properties, 14 retail properties (including two retail properties under construction/redevelopment), six residential properties (including one residential property under construction) and one hotel. BXP is well-known for its inhouse building management expertise and responsiveness to clients' needs. BXP holds a superior track record of developing premium Central Business District (CBD) office buildings, successful mixed-use complexes, suburban office centers and build-to-suit projects for a diverse array of creditworthy clients. BXP actively works to promote its growth and operations in a sustainable and responsible manner. BXP has earned a twelfth consecutive GRESB Green Star recognition and the highest GRESB 5-star Rating. BXP, an S&P 500 company, was founded in 1970 by Mortimer B. Zuckerman and Edward H. Linde and became a public company in 1997.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL), a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) and S&P 500 company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, is driving the transformation of health care infrastructure. Welltower invests with leading seniors housing operators, post-acute providers and health systems to fund the real estate infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people’s wellness and overall health care experience. Welltower owns interests in properties concentrated in major, high-growth markets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, consisting of seniors housing and post-acute communities and outpatient medical properties.