Rexford Industrial Realty (NYSE:REXR – Get Rating) and American Tower (NYSE:AMT – Get Rating) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Rexford Industrial Realty and American Tower's revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

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

Profitability

Volatility & Risk

Rexford Industrial Realty has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Tower has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Rexford Industrial Realty pays an annual dividend of $1.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. American Tower pays an annual dividend of $5.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Rexford Industrial Realty pays out 132.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. American Tower pays out 94.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Rexford Industrial Realty has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years and American Tower has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years. American Tower is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Rexford Industrial Realty and American Tower, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Rexford Industrial Realty presently has a consensus price target of $77.80, indicating a potential upside of 46.74%. American Tower has a consensus price target of $291.29, indicating a potential upside of 31.77%. Given Rexford Industrial Realty's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Rexford Industrial Realty is more favorable than American Tower.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

99.5% of Rexford Industrial Realty shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.0% of American Tower shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Rexford Industrial Realty shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of American Tower shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

American Tower beats Rexford Industrial Realty on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Rexford Industrial Realty

(Get Rating)

Rexford Industrial, a real estate investment trust focused on owning and operating industrial properties throughout Southern California infill markets, owns 232 properties with approximately 27.9 million rentable square feet and manages an additional 20 properties with approximately 1.0 million rentable square feet.

About American Tower

(Get Rating)

American Tower Corporation, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of approximately 219,000 communications sites. For more information about American Tower, please visit the Earnings Materials and Investor Presentations sections of our investor relations website at .

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