Contrasting Prologis (NYSE:PLD) and SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC)

Prologis (NYSE:PLD) and SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and dividends.

Volatility and Risk

Prologis has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SBA Communications has a beta of 0.67, meaning that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Prologis and SBA Communications’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Prologis	36.37%	4.88%	3.04%
SBA Communications	19.22%	-9.85%	5.11%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

93.5% of Prologis shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.3% of SBA Communications shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Prologis shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of SBA Communications shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Prologis and SBA Communications”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Prologis	$8.02 billion	13.87	$3.06 billion	$3.03	39.67
SBA Communications	$2.68 billion	9.38	$501.81 million	$5.10	45.79

Prologis has higher revenue and earnings than SBA Communications. Prologis is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SBA Communications, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Prologis and SBA Communications, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Prologis	0	6	10	1	2.71
SBA Communications	0	3	9	0	2.75

Prologis currently has a consensus price target of $132.71, suggesting a potential upside of 10.40%. SBA Communications has a consensus price target of $247.42, suggesting a potential upside of 5.96%. Given Prologis’ higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Prologis is more favorable than SBA Communications.

Dividends

Prologis pays an annual dividend of $3.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. SBA Communications pays an annual dividend of $3.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Prologis pays out 126.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. SBA Communications pays out 76.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Prologis has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Prologis is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Prologis beats SBA Communications on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Prologis

Prologis, Inc. is the global leader in logistics real estate with a focus on high-barrier, high-growth markets. At March 31, 2024, the company owned or had investments in, on a wholly owned basis or through co-investment ventures, properties and development projects expected to total approximately 1.2 billion square feet (115 million square meters) in 19 countries. Prologis leases modern logistics facilities to a diverse base of approximately 6,700 customers principally across two major categories: business-to-business and retail/online fulfillment.

About SBA Communications

SBA Communications Corporation is a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure including towers, buildings, rooftops, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells. With a portfolio of more than 39,000 communications sites throughout the Americas, Africa and in Asia, SBA is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol SBAC. Our organization is part of the S&P 500 and is one of the top Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) by market capitalization.