Head-To-Head Comparison: Welltower (NYSE:WELL) versus SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC)

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

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SBA Communications	0	9	7	2	2.61
Welltower	1	2	11	1	2.80

SBA Communications presently has a consensus price target of $235.18, indicating a potential upside of 25.66%. Welltower has a consensus price target of $204.80, indicating a potential upside of 11.57%. Given SBA Communications’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe SBA Communications is more favorable than Welltower.

Dividends

SBA Communications pays an annual dividend of $4.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Welltower pays an annual dividend of $2.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. SBA Communications pays out 57.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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 has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years and Welltower has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. SBA Communications is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk and Volatility

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

Profitability

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

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

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

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SBA Communications	$2.68 billion	7.44	$749.54 million	$7.67	24.40
Welltower	$7.99 billion	15.77	$951.68 million	$1.45	126.60

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 11 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 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.