Critical Comparison: Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) vs. United Dominion Realty Trust (NYSE:UDR)

United Dominion Realty Trust (NYSE:UDR) and Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares United Dominion Realty Trust and Mid-America Apartment Communities”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Dominion Realty Trust	$1.67 billion	7.31	$89.58 million	$0.38	97.01
Mid-America Apartment Communities	$2.19 billion	7.40	$527.54 million	$4.86	28.50

Mid-America Apartment Communities has higher revenue and earnings than United Dominion Realty Trust. Mid-America Apartment Communities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than United Dominion Realty Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for United Dominion Realty Trust and Mid-America Apartment Communities, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Dominion Realty Trust	0	10	4	0	2.29
Mid-America Apartment Communities	2	8	8	0	2.33

United Dominion Realty Trust currently has a consensus target price of $44.38, suggesting a potential upside of 20.37%. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a consensus target price of $162.53, suggesting a potential upside of 17.34%. Given United Dominion Realty Trust’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe United Dominion Realty Trust is more favorable than Mid-America Apartment Communities.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

97.8% of United Dominion Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.6% of Mid-America Apartment Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of United Dominion Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Mid-America Apartment Communities shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

United Dominion Realty Trust has a beta of 0.88, suggesting that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mid-America Apartment Communities has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares United Dominion Realty Trust and Mid-America Apartment Communities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Dominion Realty Trust	7.81%	4.11%	1.27%
Mid-America Apartment Communities	25.98%	9.35%	4.84%

Dividends

United Dominion Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Mid-America Apartment Communities pays an annual dividend of $6.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. United Dominion Realty Trust pays out 452.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Mid-America Apartment Communities pays out 124.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. United Dominion Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years and Mid-America Apartment Communities has raised its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Summary

Mid-America Apartment Communities beats United Dominion Realty Trust on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About United Dominion Realty Trust

UDR, Inc. (NYSE: UDR), an S&P 500 company, is a leading multifamily real estate investment trust with a demonstrated performance history of delivering superior and dependable returns by successfully managing, buying, selling, developing and redeveloping attractive real estate communities in targeted U.S. markets. As of December 31, 2023, UDR owned or had an ownership position in 60,336 apartment homes including 359 homes under development. For over 51 years, UDR has delivered long-term value to shareholders, the best standard of service to Residents and the highest quality experience for Associates.

About Mid-America Apartment Communities

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the operation, acquisition, and development of apartment communities. It operates through the Same Store and Non-Same Store segments. The Same Store Communities segment represents those apartment communities that have been owned and stabilized for at least 12 months as of the first day of the calendar year. The Non-Same Store segment includes recent acquisitions, communities in development or lease-up. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Germantown, TN.