Contrasting Acadia Realty Trust (NYSE:AKR) and Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR)

Acadia Realty Trust (NYSE:AKR) and Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.7% of Acadia Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.8% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of Acadia Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 15.0% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Acadia Realty Trust and Lamar Advertising”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Acadia Realty Trust	$338.69 million	7.20	$19.87 million	$0.08	289.50
Lamar Advertising	$2.16 billion	6.30	$495.76 million	$4.87	27.37

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Acadia Realty Trust and Lamar Advertising, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Acadia Realty Trust	0	3	2	0	2.40
Lamar Advertising	0	4	1	0	2.20

Acadia Realty Trust currently has a consensus target price of $20.80, indicating a potential downside of 10.19%. Lamar Advertising has a consensus target price of $125.00, indicating a potential downside of 6.21%. Given Lamar Advertising’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Lamar Advertising is more favorable than Acadia Realty Trust.

Volatility & Risk

Acadia Realty Trust has a beta of 1.47, suggesting that its share price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lamar Advertising has a beta of 1.52, suggesting that its share price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Acadia Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Lamar Advertising pays an annual dividend of $5.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Acadia Realty Trust pays out 900.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lamar Advertising pays out 115.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lamar Advertising is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Acadia Realty Trust and Lamar Advertising’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Acadia Realty Trust	0.20%	0.03%	0.02%
Lamar Advertising	23.34%	42.18%	7.69%

Summary

Lamar Advertising beats Acadia Realty Trust on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Acadia Realty Trust

Acadia Realty Trust is an equity real estate investment trust focused on delivering long-term, profitable growth via its dual Core Portfolio and Fund operating platforms and its disciplined, location-driven investment strategy. Acadia Realty Trust is accomplishing this goal by building a best-in-class core real estate portfolio with meaningful concentrations of assets in the nation's most dynamic corridors; making profitable opportunistic and value-add investments through its series of discretionary, institutional funds; and maintaining a strong balance sheet.

About Lamar Advertising

Lamar Advertising Company operates as an outdoor advertising company in the United States and Canada. The company owns and operates billboards, logo signs, and transit advertising displays, as well as rents space for advertising on billboards, buses, shelters, benches, logo plates, and in airport terminals. Lamar Advertising Company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.