Comparing Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV) & Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI)

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

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Apartment Investment and Management and Sun Communities”s 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	1.65	$554.01 million	$3.88	0.41
Sun Communities	$2.31 billion	5.86	$1.37 billion	($6.16)	-18.39

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.

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%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings 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 $137.05, suggesting a potential upside of 20.98%. Given Sun Communities’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Sun Communities is more favorable than Apartment Investment and Management.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

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

Volatility and Risk

Apartment Investment and Management has a beta of 1.21, meaning that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sun Communities has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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.