SBA Communications (SBAC) Competitors

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) and Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, community ranking, institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Which has more volatility and risk, SBAC or EQR?

SBA Communications has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equity Residential has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer SBAC or EQR?

SBA Communications received 323 more outperform votes than Equity Residential when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.24% of users gave SBA Communications an outperform vote while only 47.67% of users gave Equity Residential an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
SBA Communications	Outperform Votes 825 67.24%	Underperform Votes 402 32.76%
Equity Residential	Outperform Votes 502 47.67%	Underperform Votes 551 52.33%

Which has higher earnings & valuation, SBAC or EQR?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SBA Communications	$2.71B	8.68	$501.81M	$6.34	34.53
Equity Residential	$2.87B	9.76	$835.44M	$2.44	30.30

Do analysts rate SBAC or EQR?

SBA Communications presently has a consensus target price of $257.23, indicating a potential upside of 17.49%. Equity Residential has a consensus target price of $77.25, indicating a potential upside of 4.50%. Given SBA Communications' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe SBA Communications is more favorable than Equity Residential.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SBA Communications	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.85
Equity Residential	0 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.42

Is SBAC or EQR more profitable?

Equity Residential has a net margin of 31.57% compared to SBA Communications' net margin of 25.76%. Equity Residential's return on equity of 8.31% beat SBA Communications' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SBA Communications	25.76%	-13.13%	6.83%
Equity Residential	31.57%	8.31%	4.61%

Does the media refer more to SBAC or EQR?

In the previous week, Equity Residential had 3 more articles in the media than SBA Communications. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Equity Residential and 12 mentions for SBA Communications. SBA Communications' average media sentiment score of 1.07 beat Equity Residential's score of 0.92 indicating that SBA Communications is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
SBA Communications	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Equity Residential	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals believe in SBAC or EQR?

97.4% of SBA Communications shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of Equity Residential shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of SBA Communications shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Equity Residential shares are held by 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.

Is SBAC or EQR a better dividend stock?

SBA Communications pays an annual dividend of $3.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Equity Residential pays an annual dividend of $2.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. SBA Communications pays out 61.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Equity Residential pays out 110.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

SBA Communications beats Equity Residential on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.