Contrasting American Healthcare REIT (NYSE:AHR) & Ventas (NYSE:VTR)

American Healthcare REIT (NYSE:AHR) and Ventas (NYSE:VTR) are both large-cap real estate companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

16.7% of American Healthcare REIT shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.2% of Ventas shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of American Healthcare REIT shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Ventas shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for American Healthcare REIT and Ventas, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Healthcare REIT	0	2	12	0	2.86
Ventas	0	3	14	0	2.82

American Healthcare REIT currently has a consensus price target of $61.25, suggesting a potential upside of 10.06%. Ventas has a consensus price target of $98.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.78%. Given American Healthcare REIT’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe American Healthcare REIT is more favorable than Ventas.

Profitability

This table compares American Healthcare REIT and Ventas’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Healthcare REIT	4.84%	3.63%	2.25%
Ventas	4.08%	1.99%	0.94%

Dividends

American Healthcare REIT pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Ventas pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. American Healthcare REIT pays out 147.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Ventas pays out 385.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Ventas has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Ventas is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares American Healthcare REIT and Ventas”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Healthcare REIT	$2.26 billion	5.37	$69.81 million	$0.68	81.84
Ventas	$5.83 billion	8.07	$251.38 million	$0.54	169.96

Ventas has higher revenue and earnings than American Healthcare REIT. American Healthcare REIT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ventas, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

American Healthcare REIT has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ventas has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

American Healthcare REIT beats Ventas on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Healthcare REIT

Formed by the successful merger of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III and Griffin-American Healthcare REIT IV, as well as the acquisition of the business and operations of American Healthcare Investors, American Healthcare REIT is one of the larger healthcare-focused real estate investment trusts globally with assets totaling approximately $4.2 billion in gross investment value. The company benefits from a fully integrated management platform comprised of more than one hundred experienced and skilled professionals, many of whom have worked together since 2006 and have successfully invested in and managed healthcare real estate through multiple market cycles. The management team has a proven track record, deep industry relationships and unparalleled insight into each of the company's assets having built and nurtured the company's international portfolio since its original property acquisition in 2014. The strength of the management team, coupled with the quality of the assets, has American Healthcare REIT poised to capitalize on compelling growth driven by powerful demographic trends. With its 19 million-square-foot, 312-building portfolio of medical office buildings, senior housing communities, skilled nursing facilities and integrated senior health campuses diversified across 36 states and the United Kingdom, the tri-party transaction was a critical step in ideally positioning American Healthcare REIT for a future public listing or IPO on a national stock exchange at the most opportune time. By listing the company's shares on a national exchange, we believe the company will gain greater access to attractive capital that will fuel future growth, broaden our investor base and also provide liquidity to our fellow stockholders. American Healthcare REIT, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Griffin Capital Company, LLC.

About Ventas

Ventas Inc. (NYSE: VTR) is a leading S&P 500 real estate investment trust focused on delivering strong, sustainable shareholder returns by enabling exceptional environments that benefit a large and growing aging population. The Company's growth is fueled by its senior housing communities, which provide valuable services to residents and enable them to thrive in supported environments. Ventas leverages its unmatched operational expertise, data-driven insights from its Ventas Operational InsightsTM platform, extensive relationships and strong financial position to achieve its goal of delivering outsized performance across approximately 1,400 properties. The Ventas portfolio is composed of senior housing communities, outpatient medical buildings, research centers and healthcare facilities in North America and the United Kingdom. The Company benefits from a seasoned team of talented professionals who share a commitment to excellence, integrity and a common purpose of helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives.