REITs and investment offices · 19/36 against 20/36 checks · to 2026-09-08
AMT vs SPG.
American TowerOwns cell towers worldwide and leases space on them to wireless carriers.
Simon Property GroupOwns and runs premium shopping malls and outlet centres.→American Tower (AMT) and Simon Property Group (SPG) are within reach of each other at $81.9B and $68.6B, and on the filings Simon Property Group passes more, 20 checks of 36 against 19.
Which passes more checks?
widest gap first→The two are furthest apart on Shareholder returns, where American Tower passes 4 more of the six.
| AMT | SPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Shareholder returns | 5/6 | 1/6 |
| Value | 1/6 | 4/6 |
| Growth | 3/6 | 5/6 |
| Health | 2/6 | 4/6 |
| Trend analysis | 3/6 | 1/6 |
| Quality | 5/6 | 5/6 |
| All checks | 19/36 | 20/36 |
→American Tower turns over $10.8B to Simon Property Group's $6.9B, 1.6 times as much. American Tower keeps 27.8% of revenue as profit against 77.6% at Simon Property Group.
Which hands more back to owners?
→American Tower pays 3.9% at today's price and Simon Property Group effectively pays nothing, which is the clearest difference in what each hands back.
| AMT | SPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Dividend yield | 3.9% | - |
| Payout ratio | 105.7% | - |
| Years of unbroken dividend | - | - |
Which is cheaper?
→Simon Property Group is the cheaper of the two on earnings, 12.8x against 27.4x. Against their own histories, American Tower is below its 39.5x median and Simon Property Group is below its 14.0x.
| AMT | SPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Share price | $175.73 | $211.88 |
| Market cap | $81.9B | $68.6B |
| P/E | 27.4x | 12.8x |
| P/E, own median own 11-year median / own 8-year median | 39.5x | 14.0x |
| P/S | 7.6x | 9.9x |
| Free cash flow yield | 4.6% | 4.7% |
Which is growing faster, AMT or SPG?
→Simon Property Group grew revenue faster last year, +15.0% against +6.3% at American Tower - 9 points apart. Over three years the order is reversed: Simon Property Group compounds at +6.3% against +3.3%.
| AMT | SPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue (TTM) | $10.8B | $6.9B |
| Revenue growth, 1 year | +6.3% | +15.0% |
| Revenue CAGR, 3 years | +3.3% | +6.3% |
| Net income (TTM) | $3.0B | $5.4B |
| Free cash flow (TTM) | $3.8B | $3.2B |
Which balance sheet is stronger?
→Both lean on debt to a similar degree, 10.59x to equity at American Tower and 6.47x at Simon Property Group.
| AMT | SPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Debt / equity | 10.59x | 6.47x |
| Interest coverage | 3.5x | 3.1x |
| Cash and short-term investments | $1.6B | $1.3B |
Which keeps more of each sale?
→Simon Property Group keeps more of each sale: operating margin of 47.4% against 44.7%, a gap of 3 points that flows into everything below it.
| AMT | SPG | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 99.6% | - |
| Operating margin | 44.7% | 47.4% |
| Return on equity | 85.4% | 121.4% |
Where they differ most
the checks behind the gapShareholder returns: American Tower 4 ahead
- Buybacks outpace the stock issued to staff $541M bought back vs $179M of stock compensation
- What it hands back fits inside its FFO 85.2% vs 100.0%
- Meaningful yield to owners (dividends and buybacks) $3.8B returned, 4.6% of market value
- Hands cash back to owners no dividends and no buybacks in the last twelve months
- Meaningful yield to owners (dividends and buybacks) 0.00 returned, 0.0% of market value
- Buybacks are sustained, not one-off pays no dividend and reports no buybacks
Value: Simon Property Group 3 ahead
- Earnings yield beats a long bond (4%) 7.8% vs 4.0%
- FFO yield above 5% 10.3% vs 5.0%
- Cheap on FFO 9.71 vs 16.00 (peer median)
- Earnings yield beats a long bond (4%) 3.7% vs 4.0%
- Cheap on FFO 18.57 vs 16.00 (peer median)
- Price isn't outrunning growth PEG 1.80