Analyzing COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) and Universal Health Realty Income Trust (NYSE:UHT)

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) and Universal Health Realty Income Trust (NYSE:UHT) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

COPT Defense Properties has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Universal Health Realty Income Trust has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

64.7% of Universal Health Realty Income Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of COPT Defense Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Universal Health Realty Income Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

COPT Defense Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Universal Health Realty Income Trust pays an annual dividend of $2.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.0%. COPT Defense Properties pays out 96.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Universal Health Realty Income Trust pays out 222.9% 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 COPT Defense Properties and Universal Health Realty Income Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
COPT Defense Properties	18.34%	8.99%	3.25%
Universal Health Realty Income Trust	18.41%	9.44%	3.07%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for COPT Defense Properties and Universal Health Realty Income Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
COPT Defense Properties	0	3	4	0	2.57
Universal Health Realty Income Trust	0	0	0	0	0.00

COPT Defense Properties currently has a consensus target price of $30.86, indicating a potential downside of 5.14%. Given COPT Defense Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe COPT Defense Properties is more favorable than Universal Health Realty Income Trust.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares COPT Defense Properties and Universal Health Realty Income Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
COPT Defense Properties	$684.98 million	5.35	-$73.47 million	$1.22	26.66
Universal Health Realty Income Trust	$98.69 million	5.88	$15.40 million	$1.31	31.98

Universal Health Realty Income Trust has lower revenue, but higher earnings than COPT Defense Properties. COPT Defense Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Universal Health Realty Income Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Universal Health Realty Income Trust beats COPT Defense Properties on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About COPT Defense Properties

COPT Defense, an S&P MidCap 400 Company, is a self-managed REIT focused on owning, operating and developing properties in locations proximate to, or sometimes containing, key U.S. Government (USG) defense installations and missions (referred to as its Defense/IT Portfolio). The Company's tenants include the USG and their defense contractors, who are primarily engaged in priority national security activities, and who generally require mission-critical and high security property enhancements. As of December 31, 2023, the Company's Defense/IT Portfolio of 190 properties, including 24 owned through unconsolidated joint ventures, encompassed 21.7 million square feet and was 97.2% leased.

About Universal Health Realty Income Trust

Universal Health Realty Income Trust, a real estate investment trust, invests in healthcare and human-service related facilities including acute care hospitals, behavioral health care hospitals, specialty facilities, medical/office buildings, free-standing emergency departments and childcare centers. We have investments or commitments in seventy-six properties located in twenty-one states.