American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) Competitors

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) and AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, earnings, valuation and media sentiment.

Which has more volatility & risk, AMH or AVB?

American Homes 4 Rent has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AvalonBay Communities has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AMH or AVB more profitable?

AvalonBay Communities has a net margin of 38.91% compared to American Homes 4 Rent's net margin of 23.72%. AvalonBay Communities' return on equity of 9.70% beat American Homes 4 Rent's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Homes 4 Rent	23.72%	5.60%	3.29%
AvalonBay Communities	38.91%	9.70%	5.45%

Does the media favor AMH or AVB?

In the previous week, American Homes 4 Rent had 1 more articles in the media than AvalonBay Communities. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for American Homes 4 Rent and 18 mentions for AvalonBay Communities. American Homes 4 Rent's average media sentiment score of 1.31 beat AvalonBay Communities' score of 1.18 indicating that American Homes 4 Rent is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
American Homes 4 Rent	13 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
AvalonBay Communities	13 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is AMH or AVB a better dividend stock?

American Homes 4 Rent pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. AvalonBay Communities pays an annual dividend of $7.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. American Homes 4 Rent pays out 108.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. AvalonBay Communities pays out 86.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. American Homes 4 Rent has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years and AvalonBay Communities has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. AvalonBay Communities is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts rate AMH or AVB?

American Homes 4 Rent currently has a consensus target price of $41.07, indicating a potential upside of 14.94%. AvalonBay Communities has a consensus target price of $225.64, indicating a potential upside of 16.54%. Given AvalonBay Communities' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AvalonBay Communities is more favorable than American Homes 4 Rent.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Homes 4 Rent	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57
AvalonBay Communities	0 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, AMH or AVB?

AvalonBay Communities has higher revenue and earnings than American Homes 4 Rent. AvalonBay Communities 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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Homes 4 Rent	$1.73B	7.67	$412.43M	$1.11	32.19
AvalonBay Communities	$2.98B	9.25	$1.08B	$8.12	23.85

Do insiders and institutionals believe in AMH or AVB?

91.9% of American Homes 4 Rent shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.6% of AvalonBay Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.3% of American Homes 4 Rent shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of AvalonBay Communities shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

AvalonBay Communities beats American Homes 4 Rent on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.