Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) & Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) Head to Head Review

Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) and Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Lamar Advertising and Alexandria Real Estate Equities”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lamar Advertising	$2.16 billion	6.43	$495.76 million	$4.87	27.90
Alexandria Real Estate Equities	$3.01 billion	6.86	$103.64 million	$1.07	110.25

Lamar Advertising has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Alexandria Real Estate Equities. Lamar Advertising is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alexandria Real Estate Equities, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Lamar Advertising and Alexandria Real Estate Equities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lamar Advertising	23.34%	42.18%	7.69%
Alexandria Real Estate Equities	5.09%	0.68%	0.41%

Volatility and Risk

Lamar Advertising has a beta of 1.52, meaning that its share price is 52% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alexandria Real Estate Equities has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Lamar Advertising and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lamar Advertising	0	4	1	0	2.20
Alexandria Real Estate Equities	0	6	4	0	2.40

Lamar Advertising presently has a consensus price target of $125.00, indicating a potential downside of 8.01%. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has a consensus price target of $133.22, indicating a potential upside of 12.93%. Given Alexandria Real Estate Equities’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Alexandria Real Estate Equities is more favorable than Lamar Advertising.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.8% of Lamar Advertising shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.5% of Alexandria Real Estate Equities shares are held by institutional investors. 15.0% of Lamar Advertising shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Alexandria Real Estate Equities shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Lamar Advertising pays an annual dividend of $5.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Alexandria Real Estate Equities pays an annual dividend of $5.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Lamar Advertising pays out 115.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Alexandria Real Estate Equities pays out 486.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Alexandria Real Estate Equities is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Alexandria Real Estate Equities beats Lamar Advertising on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Alexandria Real Estate Equities

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), an S&P 500 company, is a best-in-class, mission-driven life science REIT making a positive and lasting impact on the world. As the pioneer of the life science real estate niche since our founding in 1994, Alexandria is the preeminent and longest-tenured owner, operator, and developer of collaborative life science, agtech, and advanced technology mega campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, including Greater Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle. Alexandria has a total market capitalization of $33.1 billion and an asset base in North America of 73.5 million SF as of December 31, 2023, which includes 42.0 million RSF of operating properties, 5.5 million RSF of Class A/A+ properties undergoing construction and one near-term project expected to commence construction in the next two years, 2.1 million RSF of priority anticipated development and redevelopment projects, and 23.9 million SF of future development projects. Alexandria has a longstanding and proven track record of developing Class A/A+ properties clustered in life science, agtech, and advanced technology mega campuses that provide our innovative tenants with highly dynamic and collaborative environments that enhance their ability to successfully recruit and retain world-class talent and inspire productivity, efficiency, creativity, and success. Alexandria also provides strategic capital to transformative life science, agrifoodtech, climate innovation, and technology companies through our venture capital platform. We believe our unique business model and diligent underwriting ensure a high-quality and diverse tenant base that results in higher occupancy levels, longer lease terms, higher rental income, higher returns, and greater long-term asset value.