Better Buy: HCP, Inc. vs. Senior Housing Properties Trust

Healthcare, especially when it involves taking care of senior citizens, has the potential to be a rapidly growing industry for decades to come. As the baby boomer generation continues to retire, and Americans on average live longer lives, the senior population in the U.S. is expected to roughly double over the next 40 years.

HCP, Inc. (NYSE: HCP) and Senior Housing Properties Trust (NASDAQ: SNH) are real estate investment trusts that invest heavily in senior housing and medical offices. With similar objectives, these companies make for a logical comparison, and one that I've discussed before. However, since I last looked at these two REITs side by side, their share prices have dropped considerably -- HCP's by 15% and Senior Housing Properties Trust's by 8% -- and another set of quarterly earnings reports have been revealed. So let's see which is the better buy now.

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Source: Fool.com