Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI – Get Free Report) and Boston Properties (NYSE:BXP – Get Free Report) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and analyst recommendations.
Dividends
Crown Castle pays an annual dividend of $6.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.7%. Boston Properties pays an annual dividend of $3.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Crown Castle pays out 222.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Boston Properties pays out 3,920.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Crown Castle is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Crown Castle and Boston Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Crown Castle | 1 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 2.35 |
| Boston Properties | 1 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 2.46 |
Profitability
This table compares Crown Castle and Boston Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Crown Castle | 18.59% | 20.98% | 3.20% |
| Boston Properties | 0.38% | 3.90% | 1.24% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Crown Castle and Boston Properties”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Crown Castle | $6.59 billion | 6.17 | $1.50 billion | $2.82 | 33.18 |
| Boston Properties | $3.41 billion | 3.25 | $14.27 million | $0.10 | 700.90 |
Crown Castle has higher revenue and earnings than Boston Properties. Crown Castle is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Boston Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
Crown Castle has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Boston Properties has a beta of 1.18, indicating that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
90.8% of Crown Castle shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.7% of Boston Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Crown Castle shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Boston Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Crown Castle beats Boston Properties on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Crown Castle
Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 90,000 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.
About Boston Properties
Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE: BXP) (BXP or the Company) is the largest publicly traded developer, owner, and manager of premier workplaces in the United States, concentrated in six dynamic gateway markets – Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC. BXP has delivered places that power progress for our clients and communities for more than 50 years. BXP is a fully integrated real estate company, organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT). Including properties owned by joint ventures, BXP's portfolio totals 53.3 million square feet and 188 properties, including 10 properties under construction/redevelopment. BXP's properties include 167 office properties, 14 retail properties (including two retail properties under construction/redevelopment), six residential properties (including one residential property under construction) and one hotel. BXP is well-known for its inhouse building management expertise and responsiveness to clients' needs. BXP holds a superior track record of developing premium Central Business District (CBD) office buildings, successful mixed-use complexes, suburban office centers and build-to-suit projects for a diverse array of creditworthy clients. BXP actively works to promote its growth and operations in a sustainable and responsible manner. BXP has earned a twelfth consecutive GRESB Green Star recognition and the highest GRESB 5-star Rating. BXP, an S&P 500 company, was founded in 1970 by Mortimer B. Zuckerman and Edward H. Linde and became a public company in 1997.
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