Safehold (NYSE:SAFE – Get Free Report) and Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR – Get Free Report) are both real estate companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and valuation.
Dividends
Safehold pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Lamar Advertising pays an annual dividend of $6.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Safehold pays out 43.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lamar Advertising pays out 118.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Safehold has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Lamar Advertising has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Safehold is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Safehold and Lamar Advertising, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Safehold | 1 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2.20 |
| Lamar Advertising | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2.40 |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Safehold and Lamar Advertising”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Safehold | $419.53 million | 2.72 | $114.47 million | $1.62 | 9.93 |
| Lamar Advertising | $2.27 billion | 7.10 | $587.15 million | $5.42 | 29.24 |
Lamar Advertising has higher revenue and earnings than Safehold. Safehold is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lamar Advertising, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Safehold and Lamar Advertising’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Safehold | 27.70% | 4.76% | 1.62% |
| Lamar Advertising | 24.01% | 55.53% | 8.04% |
Risk and Volatility
Safehold has a beta of 1.75, suggesting that its share price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lamar Advertising has a beta of 1.19, suggesting that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
70.4% of Safehold shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.8% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.8% of Safehold 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 large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Lamar Advertising beats Safehold on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Safehold
Safehold Inc. (NYSE: SAFE) is revolutionizing real estate ownership by providing a new and better way for owners to unlock the value of the land beneath their buildings. Having created the modern ground lease industry in 2017, Safehold continues to help owners of high quality multifamily, office, industrial, hospitality, student housing, life science and mixed-use properties generate higher returns with less risk. The Company, which is taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT), seeks to deliver safe, growing income and long-term capital appreciation to its shareholders.
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.
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