SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) versus Iron Mountain (NYSE:IRM) Financial Analysis

SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) and Iron Mountain (NYSE:IRM) are both large-cap real estate companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends and risk.

Profitability

This table compares SBA Communications and Iron Mountain’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SBA Communications	34.54%	-20.67%	8.45%
Iron Mountain	5.88%	-79.98%	3.37%

Volatility & Risk

SBA Communications has a beta of 0.97, meaning that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Iron Mountain has a beta of 1.18, meaning that its stock price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.3% of SBA Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.1% of Iron Mountain shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.5% of SBA Communications shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Iron Mountain shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for SBA Communications and Iron Mountain, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SBA Communications	0	9	9	0	2.50
Iron Mountain	0	2	8	0	2.80

SBA Communications currently has a consensus target price of $224.64, indicating a potential upside of 20.41%. Iron Mountain has a consensus target price of $141.33, indicating a potential upside of 23.38%. Given Iron Mountain’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Iron Mountain is more favorable than SBA Communications.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SBA Communications and Iron Mountain”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SBA Communications	$2.82 billion	7.03	$1.05 billion	$9.27	20.13
Iron Mountain	$6.90 billion	4.94	$144.59 million	$1.53	74.87

SBA Communications has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Iron Mountain. SBA Communications is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Iron Mountain, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

SBA Communications pays an annual dividend of $5.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Iron Mountain pays an annual dividend of $3.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. SBA Communications pays out 53.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Iron Mountain pays out 226.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. SBA Communications has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years and Iron Mountain has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Summary

SBA Communications beats Iron Mountain on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SBA Communications

SBA Communications is a real estate investment trust that owns and operates wireless communications infrastructure. Its primary business is leasing space on its communications towers and other sites to wireless carriers and other customers that need to install network equipment. The company also provides site development services, including helping customers identify, acquire, construct and manage locations for wireless infrastructure. Founded in 1989, SBA serves customers in the United States and several international markets, including countries in Central and South America and Africa.

About Iron Mountain

Iron Mountain Incorporated is an information management and storage company that helps organizations protect, manage and access physical and digital assets. Its services include records storage and management, secure document shredding, digitization and other information-management solutions. The company also operates data centers and provides services for businesses moving, storing and managing data. Its offerings extend to specialized storage and care for items such as artwork and other valuable collections.