Four Corners Property Trust (NYSE:FCPT) & American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Financial Survey

Four Corners Property Trust (NYSE:FCPT) and American Tower (NYSE:AMT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.7% of Four Corners Property Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of American Tower shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Four Corners Property Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of American Tower shares are held 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.

Profitability

This table compares Four Corners Property Trust and American Tower’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Four Corners Property Trust	37.44%	7.65%	3.97%
American Tower	18.42%	18.45%	3.11%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Four Corners Property Trust and American Tower’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Four Corners Property Trust	$250.61 million	8.96	$95.34 million	$1.07	22.80
American Tower	$11.14 billion	8.06	$1.48 billion	$4.42	43.50

American Tower has higher revenue and earnings than Four Corners Property Trust. Four Corners Property Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Tower, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Four Corners Property Trust has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Tower has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Four Corners Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. American Tower pays an annual dividend of $6.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Four Corners Property Trust pays out 129.0% 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 pays out 146.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Four Corners Property Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Four Corners Property Trust and American Tower, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Four Corners Property Trust	0	0	2	0	3.00
American Tower	0	2	8	1	2.91

Four Corners Property Trust presently has a consensus price target of $26.33, indicating a potential upside of 7.92%. American Tower has a consensus price target of $220.91, indicating a potential upside of 14.89%. Given American Tower’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe American Tower is more favorable than Four Corners Property Trust.

Summary

Four Corners Property Trust beats American Tower on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Four Corners Property Trust

FCPT, headquartered in Mill Valley, CA, is a real estate investment trust primarily engaged in the ownership, acquisition and leasing of restaurant and retail properties. The Company seeks to grow its portfolio by acquiring additional real estate to lease, on a net basis, for use in the restaurant and retail industries.

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.