Analyzing American Tower (NYSE:AMT) and VICI Properties (NYSE:VICI)

VICI Properties (NYSE:VICI) and American Tower (NYSE:AMT) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and profitability.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.7% of VICI Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of American Tower shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of VICI Properties shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of American Tower shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for VICI Properties and American Tower, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
VICI Properties	0	6	7	0	2.54
American Tower	0	5	14	1	2.80

VICI Properties currently has a consensus price target of $33.38, suggesting a potential upside of 18.28%. American Tower has a consensus price target of $216.20, suggesting a potential upside of 15.69%. Given VICI Properties’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe VICI Properties is more favorable than American Tower.

Volatility and Risk

VICI Properties has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Tower has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

VICI Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.4%. American Tower pays an annual dividend of $7.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. VICI Properties pays out 61.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Tower pays out 115.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. VICI Properties has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and American Tower has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. VICI Properties is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares VICI Properties and American Tower”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
VICI Properties	$4.01 billion	7.53	$2.78 billion	$2.92	9.67
American Tower	$10.64 billion	8.18	$2.53 billion	$6.19	30.19

VICI Properties has higher earnings, but lower revenue than American Tower. VICI Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Tower, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares VICI Properties and American Tower’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VICI Properties	76.83%	11.05%	6.66%
American Tower	26.81%	27.79%	4.57%

About VICI Properties

VICI Properties Inc. is an S&P 500 experiential real estate investment trust that owns one of the largest portfolios of market-leading gaming, hospitality and entertainment destinations, including Caesars Palace Las Vegas, MGM Grand and the Venetian Resort Las Vegas, three of the most iconic entertainment facilities on the Las Vegas Strip. VICI Properties owns 93 experiential assets across a geographically diverse portfolio consisting of 54 gaming properties and 39 other experiential properties across the United States and Canada. The portfolio is comprised of approximately 127 million square feet and features approximately 60,300 hotel rooms and over 500 restaurants, bars, nightclubs and sportsbooks. Its properties are occupied by industry-leading gaming, leisure and hospitality operators under long-term, triple-net lease agreements. VICI Properties has a growing array of real estate and financing partnerships with leading operators in other experiential sectors, including Bowlero, Cabot, Canyon Ranch, Chelsea Piers, Great Wolf Resorts, Homefield, and Kalahari Resorts. VICI Properties also owns four championship golf courses and 33 acres of undeveloped and underdeveloped land adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip. VICI Properties’ goal is to create the highest quality and most productive experiential real estate portfolio through a strategy of partnering with the highest quality experiential place makers and operators.

About American Tower

American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of over 224,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities.