Reviewing Healthpeak Properties (NYSE:DOC) and American Healthcare REIT (NYSE:AHR)

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

Volatility & Risk

American Healthcare REIT has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Healthpeak Properties has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for American Healthcare REIT and Healthpeak Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Healthcare REIT	0	1	12	2	3.07
Healthpeak Properties	0	14	4	0	2.22

American Healthcare REIT currently has a consensus target price of $62.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.40%. Healthpeak Properties has a consensus target price of $21.60, suggesting a potential upside of 12.94%. Given American Healthcare REIT’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe American Healthcare REIT is more favorable than Healthpeak Properties.

Dividends

American Healthcare REIT pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Healthpeak Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.4%. 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. Healthpeak Properties pays out 348.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

This table compares American Healthcare REIT and Healthpeak Properties’ 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%
Healthpeak Properties	8.24%	2.79%	1.17%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares American Healthcare REIT and Healthpeak Properties”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	$2.50 billion	4.64	$69.81 million	$0.68	78.33
Healthpeak Properties	$2.82 billion	4.67	$71.35 million	$0.35	54.64

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

16.7% of American Healthcare REIT shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.6% of Healthpeak Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of American Healthcare REIT shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Healthpeak Properties shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

American Healthcare REIT beats Healthpeak Properties on 10 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 Healthpeak Properties

Healthpeak Properties, Inc. is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) and S&P 500 company. Healthpeak owns, operates, and develops high-quality real estate for healthcare discovery and delivery.