AMT vs. VTR: American Tower vs. Ventas Stock Comparison

Company Profile

American Tower (AMT) and Ventas (VTR) both fall under the Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group, but AMT is classified in Specialized REITs while VTR is classified in Health Care REITs.

Both American Tower (AMT) and Ventas (VTR) are REITs — read their payout ratios and P/E alongside FFO (funds from operations) rather than at face value.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

American Tower (AMT) at 32.96% clears its industry range for ROE, a sharper capital-efficiency signal than Ventas (VTR) at 1.87%, which is closer to a typical peer reading.

Neither American Tower (AMT) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) nor Ventas (VTR) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) is well served by net margin: heavy depreciation makes net income a poor profitability proxy in their businesses, where FFO-based measures are the standard read.

Neither side reports a meaningful operating margin: for American Tower (AMT) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Ventas (VTR) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), funding costs are part of the core business, so net margin and ROE are the cleaner profitability reads.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Ventas (VTR) at 18.47% sits in the top revenue growth quartile, while American Tower (AMT) at 5.11% is closer to the peer norm — faster top-line expansion for VTR.

EPS growth isn't a meaningful figure for either American Tower (AMT) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) or Ventas (VTR) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) under our convention.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

Both American Tower (AMT) at 0.35 and Ventas (VTR) at 0.37 run current ratio in the tighter-liquidity quartile of industry peers, leaving thinner cushions against current liabilities than typical competitors.

Ventas (VTR) at 0.77 is near its industry mid-range for debt-to-equity ratio, while American Tower (AMT) at 4.64 sits above its benchmark range, pointing to a heavier debt load relative to equity.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

American Tower (AMT) at 3.64% pays a yield in its industry’s typical range, while Ventas (VTR) at 2.29% falls in the bottom quartile of its peers.

An earnings-based payout ratio fits neither American Tower (AMT) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) nor Ventas (VTR) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs): their distributions are mandated and conventionally measured against FFO, so the accounting-earnings ratio overstates both.

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

P/E ratio is not a meaningful valuation yardstick for either American Tower (AMT) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) or Ventas (VTR) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs): depreciation suppresses reported earnings in their businesses, and price-to-FFO is the conventional yardstick instead.

On P/S ratio, both American Tower (AMT) at 7.95 and Ventas (VTR) at 6.96 are priced roughly in line with their industries — neither looks cheap nor rich on a sales basis.

Both look rich against book: Ventas (VTR) at 2.97 sits in the upper P/B ratio quartile, and American Tower (AMT) at 24.92 prices even higher, above its industry range.

Valuation Metrics