American Tower (NYSE:AMT – Get Free Report) and Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.
Risk and Volatility
American Tower has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Americold Realty Trust has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares American Tower and Americold Realty Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| American Tower | $10.45 billion | 8.04 | $2.26 billion | $6.26 | 28.68 |
| Americold Realty Trust | $2.61 billion | 1.13 | -$94.31 million | ($0.22) | -47.09 |
American Tower has higher revenue and earnings than Americold Realty Trust. Americold Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Tower, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for American Tower and Americold Realty Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| American Tower | 0 | 5 | 13 | 2 | 2.85 |
| Americold Realty Trust | 3 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2.13 |
American Tower currently has a consensus price target of $228.44, suggesting a potential upside of 27.22%. Americold Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $16.62, suggesting a potential upside of 60.38%. Given Americold Realty Trust’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Americold Realty Trust is more favorable than American Tower.
Dividends
American Tower pays an annual dividend of $6.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Americold Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.9%. American Tower pays out 108.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Americold Realty Trust pays out -418.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Tower has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Americold Realty Trust has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Americold Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
92.7% of American Tower shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.1% of Americold Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of American Tower shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Americold Realty Trust shares are owned 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.
Profitability
This table compares American Tower and Americold Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| American Tower | 28.11% | 28.79% | 4.69% |
| Americold Realty Trust | -2.09% | -1.68% | -0.69% |
Summary
American Tower beats Americold Realty Trust on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About American Tower
American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of over 224,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities.
About Americold Realty Trust
Americold Realty Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which focuses on the ownership, operation, development, and acquisition of temperature-controlled warehouses. It operates through the following segments: Warehouse, Third-Party Managed, Transportation, and Other. The Warehouse segment collects rent and storage fees from customers to store frozen and perishable food and other products within the firm’s real estate portfolio. The Third-Party Managed segment manages warehouses on behalf of third parties and provides warehouse management services to food retailers and manufacturers in customer-owned facilities. The Transportation segment is involved in brokering and managing transportation of frozen and perishable food and other products. The Other segment includes ownership in a limestone quarry in Carthage, Missouri. The company was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.
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