Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) and Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and dividends.
Profitability
This table compares Equity LifeStyle Properties and Mid-America Apartment Communities' net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets |
|---|
| Equity LifeStyle Properties | 20.27% | 16.66% | 5.18% |
| Mid-America Apartment Communities | 19.22% | 5.63% | 3.13% |
Volatility & Risk
Equity LifeStyle Properties has a beta of 0.46, suggesting that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mid-America Apartment Communities has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Equity LifeStyle Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.45 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Mid-America Apartment Communities pays an annual dividend of $4.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Equity LifeStyle Properties pays out 69.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mid-America Apartment Communities pays out 62.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Equity LifeStyle Properties has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Mid-America Apartment Communities has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Mid-America Apartment Communities is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Equity LifeStyle Properties and Mid-America Apartment Communities, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score |
|---|
| Equity LifeStyle Properties | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2.50 |
| Mid-America Apartment Communities | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2.50 |
Equity LifeStyle Properties currently has a consensus price target of $67.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.46%. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a consensus price target of $134.3636, indicating a potential downside of 8.60%. Given Equity LifeStyle Properties' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Equity LifeStyle Properties is more favorable than Mid-America Apartment Communities.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
91.5% of Equity LifeStyle Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.4% of Mid-America Apartment Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.9% of Equity LifeStyle Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Mid-America Apartment Communities shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Equity LifeStyle Properties and Mid-America Apartment Communities' gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio |
|---|
| Equity LifeStyle Properties | $1.04 billion | 11.49 | $279.14 million | $2.09 | 31.29 |
| Mid-America Apartment Communities | $1.64 billion | 10.25 | $353.81 million | $6.55 | 22.44 |
Mid-America Apartment Communities has higher revenue and earnings than Equity LifeStyle Properties. Mid-America Apartment 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.
Summary
Equity LifeStyle Properties beats Mid-America Apartment Communities on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
