American Tower (NYSE:AMT – Get Free Report) and Extra Space Storage (NYSE:EXR – Get Free Report) are both large-cap real estate companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, risk, dividends and earnings.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
92.7% of American Tower shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.1% of Extra Space Storage shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Tower shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Extra Space Storage shares are owned by 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.
Dividends
American Tower pays an annual dividend of $7.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Extra Space Storage pays an annual dividend of $6.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. American Tower pays out 98.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Extra Space Storage pays out 143.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. American Tower has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years and Extra Space Storage has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Analyst Ratings
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| American Tower | 0 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 2.90 |
| Extra Space Storage | 0 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2.44 |
American Tower currently has a consensus target price of $215.29, suggesting a potential upside of 24.46%. Extra Space Storage has a consensus target price of $148.93, suggesting a potential upside of 8.71%. Given American Tower’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe American Tower is more favorable than Extra Space Storage.
Volatility and Risk
American Tower has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Extra Space Storage has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares American Tower and Extra Space Storage”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| American Tower | $10.64 billion | 7.57 | $2.53 billion | $7.27 | 23.79 |
| Extra Space Storage | $3.45 billion | 8.40 | $974.00 million | $4.53 | 30.24 |
American Tower has higher revenue and earnings than Extra Space Storage. American Tower is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Extra Space Storage, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares American Tower and Extra Space Storage’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| American Tower | 31.08% | 32.76% | 5.36% |
| Extra Space Storage | 27.80% | 6.70% | 3.27% |
Summary
American Tower beats Extra Space Storage on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Extra Space Storage
Extra Space Storage Inc., headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a self-administered and self-managed REIT and a member of the S&P 500. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned and/or operated 3,714 self-storage stores in 42 states and Washington, D.C. The Company's stores comprise approximately 2.6 million units and approximately 283.0 million square feet of rentable space operating under the Extra Space, Life Storage and Storage Express brands. The Company offers customers a wide selection of conveniently located and secure storage units across the country, including boat storage, RV storage and business storage. It is the largest operator of self-storage properties in the United States.
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