Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS) Competitors

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) and Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, community ranking, dividends, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer AVB or ELS?

AvalonBay Communities received 323 more outperform votes than Equity LifeStyle Properties when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.91% of users gave AvalonBay Communities an outperform vote while only 57.28% of users gave Equity LifeStyle Properties an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
AvalonBay Communities	Outperform Votes 677 59.91%	Underperform Votes 453 40.09%
Equity LifeStyle Properties	Outperform Votes 354 57.28%	Underperform Votes 264 42.72%

Which has more volatility & risk, AVB or ELS?

AvalonBay Communities has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equity LifeStyle Properties has a beta of 0.73, meaning that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in AVB or ELS?

92.6% of AvalonBay Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.2% of Equity LifeStyle Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of AvalonBay Communities shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Equity LifeStyle Properties shares are owned by company 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.

Is AVB or ELS a better dividend stock?

AvalonBay Communities pays an annual dividend of $7.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Equity LifeStyle Properties pays an annual dividend of $2.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. AvalonBay Communities pays out 87.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Equity LifeStyle Properties pays out 106.7% 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 has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Equity LifeStyle Properties has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years. AvalonBay Communities is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, AVB or ELS?

AvalonBay Communities has higher revenue and earnings than Equity LifeStyle Properties. AvalonBay Communities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Equity LifeStyle Properties, 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
AvalonBay Communities	$2.95B	10.00	$1.08B	$8.03	25.78
Equity LifeStyle Properties	$1.43B	8.31	$367.01M	$1.93	32.30

Do analysts rate AVB or ELS?

AvalonBay Communities currently has a consensus price target of $237.86, indicating a potential upside of 14.88%. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a consensus price target of $73.90, indicating a potential upside of 18.54%. Given Equity LifeStyle Properties' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Equity LifeStyle Properties is more favorable than AvalonBay Communities.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AvalonBay Communities	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.47
Equity LifeStyle Properties	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.73

Is AVB or ELS more profitable?

AvalonBay Communities has a net margin of 37.13% compared to Equity LifeStyle Properties' net margin of 24.05%. Equity LifeStyle Properties' return on equity of 23.12% beat AvalonBay Communities' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AvalonBay Communities	37.13%	9.15%	5.15%
Equity LifeStyle Properties	24.05%	23.12%	6.51%

Does the media refer more to AVB or ELS?

In the previous week, AvalonBay Communities had 1 more articles in the media than Equity LifeStyle Properties. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for AvalonBay Communities and 6 mentions for Equity LifeStyle Properties. Equity LifeStyle Properties' average media sentiment score of 1.75 beat AvalonBay Communities' score of 1.06 indicating that Equity LifeStyle Properties is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AvalonBay Communities	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Equity LifeStyle Properties	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Summary

AvalonBay Communities beats Equity LifeStyle Properties on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.