Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) and Smartstop Self Storage REIT (NYSE:SMA) Head-To-Head Review

Smartstop Self Storage REIT (NYSE:SMA) and Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.8% of Lamar Advertising shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.7% of Smartstop Self Storage REIT 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, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Smartstop Self Storage REIT and Lamar Advertising”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smartstop Self Storage REIT	$281.14 million	6.51	-$1.55 million	$0.51	64.76
Lamar Advertising	$2.27 billion	6.74	$587.15 million	$5.48	27.44

Lamar Advertising has higher revenue and earnings than Smartstop Self Storage REIT. Lamar Advertising 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 Lamar Advertising’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%
Lamar Advertising	23.90%	54.94%	8.04%

Risk & Volatility

Smartstop Self Storage REIT has a beta of 0.5, meaning that its stock price is 50% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lamar Advertising has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its stock price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Smartstop Self Storage REIT and Lamar Advertising, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smartstop Self Storage REIT	1	4	4	2	2.64
Lamar Advertising	0	3	2	0	2.40

Smartstop Self Storage REIT presently has a consensus price target of $36.64, suggesting a potential upside of 10.93%. Lamar Advertising has a consensus price target of $160.17, suggesting a potential upside of 6.51%. Given Smartstop Self Storage REIT’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Smartstop Self Storage REIT is more favorable than Lamar Advertising.

Dividends

Smartstop Self Storage REIT pays an annual dividend of $1.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Lamar Advertising pays an annual dividend of $6.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Smartstop Self Storage REIT pays out 319.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lamar Advertising pays out 116.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lamar Advertising has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Summary

Lamar Advertising beats Smartstop Self Storage REIT on 12 of the 18 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 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.