American Tower (NYSE:AMT) & VICI Properties (NYSE:VICI) Critical Analysis

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

Risk & Volatility

American Tower has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, VICI Properties has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for American Tower and VICI Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

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

American Tower presently has a consensus price target of $216.20, indicating a potential upside of 11.51%. VICI Properties has a consensus price target of $33.38, indicating a potential upside of 19.73%. Given VICI Properties’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe VICI Properties is more favorable than American Tower.

Dividends

American Tower pays an annual dividend of $7.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. VICI Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.5%. 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 pays out 61.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Tower has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and VICI Properties has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. VICI Properties is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

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

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

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

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Tower	$10.64 billion	8.49	$2.53 billion	$6.19	31.32
VICI Properties	$4.01 billion	7.44	$2.78 billion	$2.92	9.55

VICI Properties has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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.

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 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.