Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) vs. VICI Properties (NYSE:VICI) Critical Contrast

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) and VICI Properties (NYSE:VICI) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Digital Realty Trust and VICI Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Digital Realty Trust	1	5	15	2	2.78
VICI Properties	0	3	11	0	2.79

Digital Realty Trust currently has a consensus target price of $190.74, suggesting a potential upside of 11.30%. VICI Properties has a consensus target price of $35.92, suggesting a potential upside of 11.89%. Given VICI Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe VICI Properties is more favorable than Digital Realty Trust.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.7% of Digital Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.7% of VICI Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Digital Realty Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of VICI Properties shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Digital Realty Trust and VICI Properties”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Digital Realty Trust	$5.55 billion	10.52	$615.19 million	$3.81	44.98
VICI Properties	$3.93 billion	8.72	$2.68 billion	$2.61	12.30

VICI Properties has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Digital Realty Trust. VICI Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Digital Realty Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Digital Realty Trust has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, VICI Properties has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Digital Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $4.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. VICI Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Digital Realty Trust pays out 128.1% 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 69.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. VICI Properties has increased 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 Digital Realty Trust and VICI Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Digital Realty Trust	23.98%	6.46%	3.00%
VICI Properties	70.20%	10.21%	6.06%

Summary

VICI Properties beats Digital Realty Trust on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Digital Realty Trust

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust, which engages in the provision of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. It serves the following industries: artificial intelligence (AI), networks, cloud, digital media, mobile, financial services, healthcare, and gaming. The company was founded on March 9, 2004, and is headquartered in Dallas, TX.

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.