Head-To-Head Analysis: American Tower (NYSE:AMT) vs. Global Net Lease (NYSE:GNL)

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) and Global Net Lease (NYSE:GNL) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares American Tower and Global Net Lease”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Tower	$10.13 billion	9.17	$2.26 billion	$2.75	72.13
Global Net Lease	$805.01 million	2.21	-$131.57 million	($1.44)	-5.58

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

Dividends

American Tower pays an annual dividend of $6.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Global Net Lease pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.5%. American Tower pays out 247.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Global Net Lease pays out -52.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Tower has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Global Net Lease is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

American Tower has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Global Net Lease has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.7% of American Tower shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.2% of Global Net Lease shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of American Tower shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Global Net Lease shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares American Tower and Global Net Lease’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Tower	12.60%	24.85%	4.01%
Global Net Lease	-43.75%	-9.71%	-3.18%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for American Tower and Global Net Lease, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Tower	0	3	12	2	2.94
Global Net Lease	0	2	3	1	2.83

American Tower currently has a consensus price target of $244.73, suggesting a potential upside of 23.38%. Global Net Lease has a consensus price target of $9.20, suggesting a potential upside of 14.50%. Given American Tower’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe American Tower is more favorable than Global Net Lease.

Summary

American Tower beats Global Net Lease on 14 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 Global Net Lease

Global Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE: GNL) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust listed on the NYSE. The firm focused on acquiring a diversified global portfolio of commercial properties, with an emphasis on sale-leaseback transactions involving single tenant, mission critical income producing net-leased assets across the United States, Western and Northern Europe.