Comparing Smartstop Self Storage REIT (NYSE:SMA) and Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI)

Smartstop Self Storage REIT (NYSE:SMA) and Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

90.8% of Crown Castle shares are held by institutional investors. 5.7% of Smartstop Self Storage REIT shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Crown Castle shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Smartstop Self Storage REIT pays an annual dividend of $1.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Crown Castle pays an annual dividend of $4.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Smartstop Self Storage REIT pays out 309.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Crown Castle pays out 215.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Crown Castle is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

Smartstop Self Storage REIT has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Crown Castle has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Smartstop Self Storage REIT and Crown Castle”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smartstop Self Storage REIT	$281.14 million	6.39	-$1.55 million	$0.51	63.60
Crown Castle	$4.26 billion	6.74	$444.00 million	$1.97	34.28

Crown Castle has higher revenue and earnings than Smartstop Self Storage REIT. Crown Castle is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Smartstop Self Storage REIT, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Smartstop Self Storage REIT and Crown Castle’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smartstop Self Storage REIT	9.68%	2.33%	1.23%
Crown Castle	20.71%	-51.60%	3.70%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Smartstop Self Storage REIT and Crown Castle, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smartstop Self Storage REIT	1	5	3	2	2.55
Crown Castle	1	10	8	2	2.52

Smartstop Self Storage REIT currently has a consensus price target of $36.42, indicating a potential upside of 12.27%. Crown Castle has a consensus price target of $94.07, indicating a potential upside of 39.30%. Given Crown Castle’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Crown Castle is more favorable than Smartstop Self Storage REIT.

Summary

Crown Castle beats Smartstop Self Storage REIT on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Smartstop Self Storage REIT

Symmetry Medical Inc. (Symmetry) is a medical device solutions company, including surgical instruments, orthopedic implants, and sterilization cases and trays. The Company designs, develops and offers worldwide production and supply chain capabilities for these products to customers in the orthopedic industry, and other medical device markets (including but not limited to arthroscopy, dental, laparoscopy, osteobiologic, and endoscopy segments). It also manufactures specialized non-healthcare products, primarily in the aerospace industry. The Company operates in two segments: original equipment manufacturer (OEM) solutions and symmetry surgical. On August 15, 2011, the Company acquired PSC Industries, Inc’s Olsen Medical division. On December 29, 2011 it acquired the surgical instruments product portfolio from Codman & Shurtleff, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson Company.

About Crown Castle

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 90,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major U.S. market. This nationwide portfolio of communications infrastructure connects cities and communities to essential data, technology and wireless service – bringing information, ideas and innovations to the people and businesses that need them.