Clipper Realty (NYSE:CLPR) & SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Head to Head Survey

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) and Clipper Realty (NYSE:CLPR) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares SBA Communications and Clipper Realty”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SBA Communications	$2.79 billion	7.60	$749.54 million	$7.67	25.74
Clipper Realty	$154.10 million	0.39	-$2.50 million	($1.03)	-3.63

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.3% of SBA Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.6% of Clipper Realty shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of SBA Communications shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 53.0% of Clipper Realty shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

SBA Communications has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clipper Realty has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares SBA Communications and Clipper Realty’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SBA Communications	31.19%	-16.83%	7.94%
Clipper Realty	-9.53%	N/A	-1.16%

Dividends

SBA Communications pays an annual dividend of $4.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Clipper Realty pays an annual dividend of $0.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.2%. SBA Communications pays out 57.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Clipper Realty pays out -36.9% 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. SBA Communications has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Clipper Realty is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for SBA Communications and Clipper Realty, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SBA Communications	0	8	8	2	2.67
Clipper Realty	0	1	0	0	2.00

SBA Communications currently has a consensus target price of $238.69, suggesting a potential upside of 20.92%. Given SBA Communications’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe SBA Communications is more favorable than Clipper Realty.

Summary

SBA Communications beats Clipper Realty on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Clipper Realty

Clipper Realty Inc. (NYSE: CLPR) is a self-administered and self-managed real estate company that acquires, owns, manages, operates, and repositions multifamily residential and commercial properties in the New York metropolitan area, with a portfolio in Manhattan and Brooklyn.