Comparing American Tower (NYSE:AMT) and Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust (NASDAQ:WHLR)

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) and Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust (NASDAQ:WHLR) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, valuation and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares American Tower and Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Tower	$11.14 billion	9.74	$1.48 billion	$4.42	52.59
Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust	$103.61 million	0.04	-$4.69 million	($4,458.03)	0.00

American Tower has higher revenue and earnings than Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust. Wheeler Real Estate Investment 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 and Risk

American Tower has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust has a beta of 1.53, meaning that its share price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

American Tower pays an annual dividend of $6.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 20.8%. 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. Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust pays out 0.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

92.7% of American Tower shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.3% of Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of American Tower shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 40.6% of Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares American Tower and Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Tower	21.95%	23.06%	3.77%
Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust	-10.98%	N/A	-1.70%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for American Tower and Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Tower	0	2	11	1	2.93
Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust	0	0	0	0	N/A

American Tower currently has a consensus price target of $234.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.66%. Given American Tower’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe American Tower is more favorable than Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust.

Summary

American Tower beats Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust on 12 of the 16 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 Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust

Headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. is a fully integrated, self-managed commercial real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on owning and operating income-producing retail properties with a primary focus on grocery-anchored centers.