Comparing Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) & Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR)

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR – Get Free Report) and Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR – Get Free Report) are both large-cap real estate companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

99.7% of Digital Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.8% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Digital Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.2% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by company 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.

Dividends

Digital Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $4.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Lamar Advertising pays an annual dividend of $6.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Digital Realty Trust pays out 236.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lamar Advertising pays out 120.4% 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 has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Lamar Advertising is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility and Risk

Digital Realty Trust has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lamar Advertising has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Digital Realty Trust and Lamar Advertising”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

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

Profitability

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Digital Realty Trust and Lamar Advertising, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Digital Realty Trust presently has a consensus target price of $219.78, indicating a potential upside of 27.40%. Lamar Advertising has a consensus target price of $160.17, indicating a potential upside of 3.32%. Given Digital Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Digital Realty Trust is more favorable than Lamar Advertising.

About Digital Realty Trust

(Get Free Report)

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust, which engages in the provision of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. It serves the following industries: artificial intelligence (AI), networks, cloud, digital media, mobile, financial services, healthcare, and gaming. The company was founded on March 9, 2004, and is headquartered in Dallas, TX.

About Lamar Advertising

(Get Free Report)

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.