Head-To-Head Comparison: Jernigan Capital (NASDAQ:JCAP) versus Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT)

Jernigan Capital (NASDAQ:JCAP) and Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Jernigan Capital and Medical Properties Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Jernigan Capital	N/A	N/A	N/A
Medical Properties Trust	-12.59%	-2.68%	-0.84%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Jernigan Capital and Medical Properties Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Jernigan Capital	0	2	5	1	2.88
Medical Properties Trust	1	0	0	0	1.00

Jernigan Capital presently has a consensus target price of $25.20, suggesting a potential upside of 20.75%. Given Jernigan Capital’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Jernigan Capital is more favorable than Medical Properties Trust.

Dividends

Jernigan Capital pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Medical Properties Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.1%. Jernigan Capital pays out 45.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Medical Properties Trust pays out -78.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Medical Properties Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.8% of Medical Properties Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of Jernigan Capital shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Medical Properties Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Jernigan Capital and Medical Properties Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Jernigan Capital	$613.29 million	2.10	$187.96 million	$2.13	9.80
Medical Properties Trust	$972.02 million	3.18	-$277.05 million	($0.46)	-10.98

Jernigan Capital has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Medical Properties Trust. Medical Properties Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Jernigan Capital, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Jernigan Capital beats Medical Properties Trust on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Jernigan Capital

Jernigan Capital is a New York Stock Exchange-listed real estate investment trust (NYSE: JCAP) that provides debt and equity capital to private developers, owners and operators of self-storage facilities with a view to eventual outright ownership of facilities the Company finances. The Company's mission is to maximize shareholder value by accumulating a multi-billion dollar investment portfolio consisting of the newest, most attractive and best located self-storage facilities in the United States through a talented and experienced team demonstrating the highest levels of integrity, dedication, excellence and community.

About Medical Properties Trust

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. is a self-advised real estate investment trust formed to capitalize on the changing trends in healthcare delivery by acquiring and developing net-leased healthcare facilities. MPT’s financing model allows hospitals and other healthcare facilities to unlock the value of their underlying real estate in order to fund facility improvements, technology upgrades, staff additions and new construction. Facilities include acute care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, long-term acute care hospitals, and other medical and surgical facilities.