Reviewing Sabra Healthcare REIT (NASDAQ:SBRA) and Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW)

Sabra Healthcare REIT (NASDAQ:SBRA) and Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Sabra Healthcare REIT and Highwoods Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sabra Healthcare REIT	0	5	5	0	2.50
Highwoods Properties	0	6	2	0	2.25

Sabra Healthcare REIT presently has a consensus target price of $22.20, indicating a potential upside of 7.40%. Highwoods Properties has a consensus target price of $27.78, indicating a potential upside of 9.03%. Given Highwoods Properties’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Highwoods Properties is more favorable than Sabra Healthcare REIT.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sabra Healthcare REIT and Highwoods Properties”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sabra Healthcare REIT	$774.63 million	6.73	$155.61 million	$0.63	32.81
Highwoods Properties	$806.11 million	3.49	$159.61 million	$0.84	30.33

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

Risk and Volatility

Sabra Healthcare REIT has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Highwoods Properties has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.4% of Sabra Healthcare REIT shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of Highwoods Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Sabra Healthcare REIT shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Highwoods Properties 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.

Dividends

Sabra Healthcare REIT pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Highwoods Properties pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.9%. Sabra Healthcare REIT pays out 190.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Highwoods Properties pays out 238.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

This table compares Sabra Healthcare REIT and Highwoods Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sabra Healthcare REIT	19.22%	5.60%	2.84%
Highwoods Properties	11.64%	3.97%	1.52%

Summary

Sabra Healthcare REIT beats Highwoods Properties on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sabra Healthcare REIT

Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc. engages in the business of acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property. The company was founded on May 10, 2010 and is headquartered in Tustin, CA.

About Highwoods Properties

Highwoods Properties, Inc., headquartered in Raleigh, is a publicly-traded (NYSE:HIW), fully-integrated office real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, acquires, leases and manages properties primarily in the best business districts (BBDs) of Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa. Highwoods is in the work-placemaking business. We believe that by creating environments and experiences where the best and brightest can achieve together what they cannot apart, we can deliver greater value to our customers, their teammates and, in turn, our stakeholders.