Analyzing Welltower (NYSE:WELL) & SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC)

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) and SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

Welltower has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SBA Communications has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.8% of Welltower shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.4% of SBA Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Welltower shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of SBA Communications shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Welltower pays an annual dividend of $2.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. SBA Communications pays an annual dividend of $4.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Welltower pays out 204.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. SBA Communications pays out 57.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Welltower has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and SBA Communications has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years. SBA Communications is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Welltower and SBA Communications, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Welltower	1	2	11	1	2.80
SBA Communications	0	9	7	1	2.53

Welltower presently has a consensus target price of $204.80, suggesting a potential upside of 11.30%. SBA Communications has a consensus target price of $235.18, suggesting a potential upside of 27.70%. Given SBA Communications’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SBA Communications is more favorable than Welltower.

Profitability

This table compares Welltower and SBA Communications’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Welltower	9.69%	2.71%	1.75%
SBA Communications	29.69%	-16.60%	7.55%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Welltower and SBA Communications”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Welltower	$7.99 billion	15.80	$951.68 million	$1.45	126.90
SBA Communications	$2.68 billion	7.32	$749.54 million	$7.67	24.01

Welltower has higher revenue and earnings than SBA Communications. SBA Communications is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Welltower, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

SBA Communications beats Welltower on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL), a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) and S&P 500 company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, is driving the transformation of health care infrastructure. Welltower invests with leading seniors housing operators, post-acute providers and health systems to fund the real estate infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people’s wellness and overall health care experience. Welltower owns interests in properties concentrated in major, high-growth markets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, consisting of seniors housing and post-acute communities and outpatient medical properties.

About SBA Communications

SBA Communications Corporation is a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure including towers, buildings, rooftops, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells. With a portfolio of more than 39,000 communications sites throughout the Americas, Africa and in Asia, SBA is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol SBAC. Our organization is part of the S&P 500 and is one of the top Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) by market capitalization.