Head-To-Head Analysis: SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) & TPG RE Finance Trust (NYSE:TRTX)

TPG RE Finance Trust (NYSE:TRTX) and SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for TPG RE Finance Trust and SBA Communications, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TPG RE Finance Trust	1	0	5	0	2.67
SBA Communications	0	4	8	1	2.77

TPG RE Finance Trust currently has a consensus price target of $9.08, suggesting a potential upside of 7.24%. SBA Communications has a consensus price target of $254.92, suggesting a potential upside of 27.65%. Given SBA Communications’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SBA Communications is more favorable than TPG RE Finance Trust.

Risk and Volatility

TPG RE Finance Trust has a beta of 2.17, suggesting that its stock price is 117% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SBA Communications has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

TPG RE Finance Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.3%. SBA Communications pays an annual dividend of $3.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. TPG RE Finance Trust pays out 139.1% 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 pays out 61.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

57.1% of TPG RE Finance Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.3% of SBA Communications shares are held by institutional investors. 2.5% of TPG RE Finance Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of SBA Communications shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares TPG RE Finance Trust and SBA Communications”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TPG RE Finance Trust	$154.87 million	4.43	-$116.63 million	$0.69	12.28
SBA Communications	$2.66 billion	8.07	$501.81 million	$6.34	31.50

SBA Communications has higher revenue and earnings than TPG RE Finance Trust. TPG RE Finance Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SBA Communications, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares TPG RE Finance Trust and SBA Communications’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TPG RE Finance Trust	19.65%	-7.50%	-2.19%
SBA Communications	25.76%	-13.13%	6.83%

Summary

SBA Communications beats TPG RE Finance Trust on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TPG RE Finance Trust

TPG RE Finance Trust, Inc., a commercial real estate finance company, originates, acquires, and manages commercial mortgage loans and other commercial real estate-related debt instruments in the United States. It invests in commercial mortgage loans; subordinate mortgage interests, mezzanine loans, secured real estate securities, note financing, preferred equity, and miscellaneous debt instruments; and commercial real estate collateralized loan obligations and commercial mortgage-backed securities secured by properties primarily in the multifamily, life science, mixed-use, hospitality, self storage, industrial, and retail real estate sectors. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It generally would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. TPG RE Finance Trust, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is based in New York, New York.

About SBA Communications

SBA Communications Corporation is a leading independent owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure including towers, buildings, rooftops, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells. With a portfolio of more than 39,000 communications sites throughout the Americas, Africa and in Asia, SBA is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol SBAC. Our organization is part of the S&P 500 and is one of the top Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) by market capitalization.