Head-To-Head Survey: Centerspace (NYSE:CSR) versus Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV)

Centerspace (NYSE:CSR) and Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Centerspace and Apartment Investment and Management, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Centerspace	0	5	2	0	2.29
Apartment Investment and Management	1	0	1	0	2.00

Centerspace currently has a consensus target price of $69.40, suggesting a potential upside of 1.92%. Apartment Investment and Management has a consensus target price of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 135.57%. Given Apartment Investment and Management’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Apartment Investment and Management is more favorable than Centerspace.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Centerspace and Apartment Investment and Management”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Centerspace	$273.66 million	4.18	$17.59 million	$0.45	151.31
Apartment Investment and Management	$138.49 million	4.41	$554.01 million	$3.88	1.09

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Centerspace	2.93%	0.94%	0.40%
Apartment Investment and Management	316.79%	9.05%	0.96%

Volatility & Risk

Centerspace has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Apartment Investment and Management has a beta of 1.2, meaning that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

79.0% of Centerspace shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.3% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Centerspace shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Apartment Investment and Management beats Centerspace on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Centerspace

Centerspace is an owner and operator of apartment communities committed to providing great homes by focusing on integrity and serving others. Founded in 1970, as of September 30, 2023, Centerspace owned interests in 71 apartment communities consisting of 12,785 apartment homes located in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Centerspace was named a Top Workplace for the fourth consecutive year in 2023 by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

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.