Crown Castle International (NYSE:CCI – Get Rating) and InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:IIPZF – Get Rating) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and analyst recommendations.
Dividends
Crown Castle International pays an annual dividend of $5.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Crown Castle International pays out 175.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust pays out 13.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Crown Castle International has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years. Crown Castle International is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Profitability
This table compares Crown Castle International and InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Crown Castle International | 22.12% | 17.40% | 3.74% |
| InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust | 185.14% | 15.40% | 9.26% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings for Crown Castle International and InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Crown Castle International | 1 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 2.54 |
| InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2.86 |
Crown Castle International currently has a consensus target price of $205.62, indicating a potential upside of 6.32%. InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust has a consensus target price of $18.64, indicating a potential upside of 79.57%. Given InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust is more favorable than Crown Castle International.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
91.3% of Crown Castle International shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Crown Castle International shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Crown Castle International and InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Crown Castle International | $6.34 billion | 13.21 | $1.10 billion | $3.36 | 57.56 |
| InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust | $147.71 million | 9.88 | $294.97 million | $2.01 | 5.16 |
Crown Castle International has higher revenue and earnings than InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust. InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Crown Castle International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility & Risk
Crown Castle International has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust has a beta of 0.43, indicating that its stock price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Crown Castle International beats InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
Crown Castle International Company Profile (Get Rating)
Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 80,000 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. For more information on Crown Castle, please visit www.crowncastle.com.
InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust Company Profile (Get Rating)
InterRent REIT is a growth-oriented real estate investment trust engaged in increasing Unitholder value and creating a growing and sustainable distribution through the acquisition and ownership of multi-residential properties. InterRent’s strategy is to expand its portfolio primarily within markets that have exhibited stable market vacancies, sufficient suites available to attain the critical mass necessary to implement an efficient portfolio management structure and, offer opportunities for accretive acquisitions. InterRent’s primary objectives are to use the proven industry experience of the Trustees, Management and Operational Team to: (i) to grow both funds from operations per Unit and net asset value per Unit through investments in a diversified portfolio of multi-residential properties; (ii) to provide Unitholders with sustainable and growing cash distributions, payable monthly; and (iii) to maintain a conservative payout ratio and balance sheet.
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