Head-To-Head Analysis: JBG SMITH Properties (NYSE:JBGS) vs. American Tower (NYSE:AMT)

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) and JBG SMITH Properties (NYSE:JBGS) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Dividends

American Tower pays an annual dividend of $6.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. JBG SMITH Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. 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. JBG SMITH Properties pays out -50.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. JBG SMITH Properties is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares American Tower and JBG SMITH Properties”s gross 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
JBG SMITH Properties	$579.65 million	2.67	-$79.98 million	($1.39)	-12.58

American Tower has higher revenue and earnings than JBG SMITH Properties. JBG SMITH 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for American Tower and JBG SMITH Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Tower	0	2	11	1	2.93
JBG SMITH Properties	1	0	0	0	1.00

American Tower currently has a consensus price target of $234.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.66%. JBG SMITH Properties has a consensus price target of $17.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.75%. Given American Tower’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe American Tower is more favorable than JBG SMITH Properties.

Volatility and Risk

American Tower has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, JBG SMITH Properties has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

92.7% of American Tower shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.5% of JBG SMITH Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of American Tower shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of JBG SMITH Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares American Tower and JBG SMITH Properties’ 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%
JBG SMITH Properties	-25.40%	-6.64%	-2.69%

Summary

American Tower beats JBG SMITH Properties on 12 of the 17 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 JBG SMITH Properties

JBG SMITH owns, operates, invests in, and develops mixed-use properties in high growth and high barrier-to-entry submarkets in and around Washington, DC, most notably National Landing. Through an intense focus on placemaking, JBG SMITH cultivates vibrant, amenity-rich, walkable neighborhoods throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Approximately 75.0% of JBG SMITH's holdings are in the National Landing submarket in Northern Virginia, which is anchored by four key demand drivers: Amazon's new headquarters; Virginia Tech's under-construction $1 billion Innovation Campus; the submarket's proximity to the Pentagon; and JBG SMITH's deployment of 5G digital infrastructure. JBG SMITH's dynamic portfolio currently comprises 14.2 million square feet of high-growth office, multifamily, and retail assets at share, 99% of which are Metro-served. It also maintains a development pipeline encompassing 8.8 million square feet of mixed-use, primarily multifamily, development opportunities. JBG SMITH is committed to the operation and development of green, smart, and healthy buildings and plans to maintain carbon neutral operations annually.