Comparing Armada Hoffler Properties (NYSE:AHRT) & Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV)

Armada Hoffler Properties (NYSE:AHRT) and Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Armada Hoffler Properties and Apartment Investment and Management, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Armada Hoffler Properties	3	1	1	1	2.00
Apartment Investment and Management	1	0	1	0	2.00

Armada Hoffler Properties currently has a consensus price target of $7.70, indicating a potential upside of 36.62%. Apartment Investment and Management has a consensus price target of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 144.80%. Given Apartment Investment and Management’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Apartment Investment and Management is more favorable than Armada Hoffler Properties.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

66.4% of Armada Hoffler Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.3% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are held by institutional investors. 11.9% of Armada Hoffler Properties shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are held by 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Armada Hoffler Properties	0.95%	0.31%	0.08%
Apartment Investment and Management	316.79%	9.05%	0.96%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Armada Hoffler Properties and Apartment Investment and Management”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Armada Hoffler Properties	$285.20 million	2.05	$5.60 million	($0.08)	-70.45
Apartment Investment and Management	$138.49 million	4.24	$554.01 million	$3.88	1.05

Apartment Investment and Management has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Armada Hoffler Properties. Armada Hoffler Properties 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.

Volatility and Risk

Armada Hoffler Properties has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Apartment Investment and Management has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Apartment Investment and Management beats Armada Hoffler Properties on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Armada Hoffler Properties

Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc. (the “Company”) is a vertically integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust (“REIT”) with over four decades of experience developing, building, acquiring, and managing high-quality retail, office, and multifamily properties located primarily in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. In addition to the ownership of the Company’s operating property portfolio, the Company develops and builds properties for its own account and through joint ventures between the Company and unaffiliated partners and also invests in development projects through real estate financing arrangements. The Company also provides general construction and development services to third-party clients. The Company’s construction and development experience includes mid- and high-rise office buildings, retail strip malls, retail power centers, multifamily apartment communities, hotels and conference centers, single- and multi-tenant industrial, distribution, and manufacturing facilities, educational, medical, and special purpose facilities, government projects, parking garages, and mixed-use town centers. The Company is the sole general partner of Armada Hoffler, L.P. (the “Operating Partnership”) and, as of March 31, 2024, owned 75.5% of the economic interest in the Operating Partnership, of which 0.1% is held as general partnership units. The operations of the Company are conducted primarily through the Operating Partnership and the wholly owned subsidiaries thereof.

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.