Analyzing Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV) and American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH)

Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV) and American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Apartment Investment and Management and American Homes 4 Rent, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Apartment Investment and Management	1	0	0	0	1.00
American Homes 4 Rent	0	6	10	1	2.71

American Homes 4 Rent has a consensus target price of $35.94, indicating a potential upside of 10.12%. Given American Homes 4 Rent’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe American Homes 4 Rent is more favorable than Apartment Investment and Management.

Profitability

This table compares Apartment Investment and Management and American Homes 4 Rent’s 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
American Homes 4 Rent	25.53%	6.25%	3.63%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Apartment Investment and Management and American Homes 4 Rent”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) 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
American Homes 4 Rent	$1.88 billion	6.27	$452.97 million	$1.26	25.90

Apartment Investment and Management has higher earnings, but lower revenue than American Homes 4 Rent. Apartment Investment and Management is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Homes 4 Rent, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Apartment Investment and Management has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Homes 4 Rent has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.3% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.9% of American Homes 4 Rent shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.9% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.7% of American Homes 4 Rent shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

American Homes 4 Rent beats Apartment Investment and Management on 12 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 American Homes 4 Rent

American Homes 4 Rent operates as a real estate investment trust. It engages in the acquisition, renovation, leasing, and operating of single-family homes as rental properties. The company was founded by Bradley Wayne Hughes, Sr. on October 19, 2012 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, NV.