Head-To-Head Review: Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) and Agree Realty (NYSE:ADC)

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.9% of Equinix shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.8% of Agree Realty shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Equinix shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Agree Realty shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Equinix and Agree Realty”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equinix	$8.75 billion	8.81	$815.00 million	$9.62	81.86
Agree Realty	$617.09 million	13.17	$189.20 million	$1.77	41.75

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

Dividends

Equinix pays an annual dividend of $18.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Agree Realty pays an annual dividend of $3.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Equinix pays out 195.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Agree Realty pays out 173.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Equinix has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years and Agree Realty has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Agree Realty is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Equinix and Agree Realty, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equinix	0	4	18	5	3.04
Agree Realty	0	5	9	1	2.73

Equinix presently has a consensus target price of $960.55, suggesting a potential upside of 21.97%. Agree Realty has a consensus target price of $80.96, suggesting a potential upside of 9.56%. Given Equinix’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Equinix is more favorable than Agree Realty.

Profitability

This table compares Equinix and Agree Realty’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equinix	10.48%	6.96%	2.66%
Agree Realty	30.05%	3.66%	2.29%

Volatility and Risk

Equinix has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Agree Realty has a beta of 0.54, meaning that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Equinix beats Agree Realty on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Equinix

Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world's digital infrastructure company . Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.

About Agree Realty

Agree Realty Corporation is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that is RETHINKING RETAIL through the acquisition and development of properties net leased to industry-leading, omni-channel retail tenants. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned and operated a portfolio of 2,135 properties, located in 49 states and containing approximately 44.2 million square feet of gross leasable area. The Company's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ADC".