Agree Realty (NYSE:ADC) vs. SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Critical Comparison

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) and Agree Realty (NYSE:ADC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, profitability, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares SBA Communications and Agree Realty’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SBA Communications	19.22%	-9.85%	5.11%
Agree Realty	32.08%	3.72%	2.39%

Dividends

SBA Communications pays an annual dividend of $3.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Agree Realty pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. 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. Agree Realty pays out 176.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.4% of SBA Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.8% of Agree Realty shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of SBA Communications shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Agree Realty shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

SBA Communications has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Agree Realty has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for SBA Communications and Agree Realty, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SBA Communications	0	3	9	0	2.75
Agree Realty	0	3	8	1	2.83

SBA Communications currently has a consensus target price of $247.42, indicating a potential upside of 6.08%. Agree Realty has a consensus target price of $72.21, indicating a potential downside of 1.45%. Given SBA Communications’ higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SBA Communications is more favorable than Agree Realty.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SBA Communications and Agree Realty”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SBA Communications	$2.71 billion	9.24	$501.81 million	$5.10	45.73
Agree Realty	$583.01 million	12.65	$169.96 million	$1.70	43.10

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

Summary

SBA Communications beats Agree Realty on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Agree Realty

Agree Realty Corporation is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that is RETHINKING RETAIL through the acquisition and development of properties net leased to industry-leading, omni-channel retail tenants. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned and operated a portfolio of 2,135 properties, located in 49 states and containing approximately 44.2 million square feet of gross leasable area. The Company's common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ADC".