Critical Analysis: Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV) versus Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI)

Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV) and Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Apartment Investment and Management and Sun Communities, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Apartment Investment and Management	1	0	0	0	1.00
Sun Communities	1	5	9	2	2.71

Sun Communities has a consensus price target of $136.25, indicating a potential upside of 12.37%. Given Sun Communities’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Sun Communities is more favorable than Apartment Investment and Management.

Profitability

This table compares Apartment Investment and Management and Sun Communities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Apartment Investment and Management	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sun Communities	-36.00%	5.02%	2.82%

Volatility & Risk

Apartment Investment and Management has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sun Communities has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Apartment Investment and Management and Sun Communities”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Apartment Investment and Management	$138.49 million	1.77	$554.01 million	$3.88	0.43
Sun Communities	$2.31 billion	6.28	$1.37 billion	($6.16)	-19.68

Sun Communities has higher revenue and earnings than Apartment Investment and Management. Sun Communities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Apartment Investment and Management, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.3% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.6% of Sun Communities shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Sun Communities shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Sun Communities beats Apartment Investment and Management on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Apartment Investment and Management

Apartment Investment & Management Co. operates as a real estate investment trust that engages in the acquisition, ownership, management and redevelopment of apartment properties. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Denver, CO.

About Sun Communities

Established in 1975, Sun Communities, Inc. became a publicly owned corporation in December 1993. The Company is a fully integrated REIT listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol: SUI. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned, operated, or had an interest in a portfolio of 667 developed MH, RV and Marina properties comprising 179,310 developed sites and approximately 48,030 wet slips and dry storage spaces in the U.S., the UK and Canada.