Analyzing American Healthcare REIT (NYSE:AHR) and SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC)

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) and American Healthcare REIT (NYSE:AHR) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Dividends

SBA Communications pays an annual dividend of $4.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. American Healthcare REIT pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. SBA Communications pays out 57.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Healthcare REIT pays out 714.3% 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 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.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares SBA Communications and American Healthcare REIT”s top-line 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	7.92	$749.54 million	$7.67	25.98
American Healthcare REIT	$2.07 billion	4.42	-$37.81 million	$0.14	369.47

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

Profitability

This table compares SBA Communications and American Healthcare REIT’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%
American Healthcare REIT	1.21%	1.09%	0.58%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.4% of SBA Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.7% of American Healthcare REIT shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of SBA Communications shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of American Healthcare REIT shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

SBA Communications has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Healthcare REIT has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for SBA Communications and American Healthcare REIT, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SBA Communications	0	9	7	1	2.53
American Healthcare REIT	0	3	10	1	2.86

SBA Communications currently has a consensus target price of $235.18, indicating a potential upside of 18.01%. American Healthcare REIT has a consensus target price of $51.83, indicating a potential upside of 0.21%. Given SBA Communications’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe SBA Communications is more favorable than American Healthcare REIT.

Summary

SBA Communications beats American Healthcare REIT on 11 of the 16 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 American Healthcare REIT

Formed by the successful merger of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III and Griffin-American Healthcare REIT IV, as well as the acquisition of the business and operations of American Healthcare Investors, American Healthcare REIT is one of the larger healthcare-focused real estate investment trusts globally with assets totaling approximately $4.2 billion in gross investment value. The company benefits from a fully integrated management platform comprised of more than one hundred experienced and skilled professionals, many of whom have worked together since 2006 and have successfully invested in and managed healthcare real estate through multiple market cycles. The management team has a proven track record, deep industry relationships and unparalleled insight into each of the company's assets having built and nurtured the company's international portfolio since its original property acquisition in 2014. The strength of the management team, coupled with the quality of the assets, has American Healthcare REIT poised to capitalize on compelling growth driven by powerful demographic trends. With its 19 million-square-foot, 312-building portfolio of medical office buildings, senior housing communities, skilled nursing facilities and integrated senior health campuses diversified across 36 states and the United Kingdom, the tri-party transaction was a critical step in ideally positioning American Healthcare REIT for a future public listing or IPO on a national stock exchange at the most opportune time. By listing the company's shares on a national exchange, we believe the company will gain greater access to attractive capital that will fuel future growth, broaden our investor base and also provide liquidity to our fellow stockholders. American Healthcare REIT, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Griffin Capital Company, LLC.