Head to Head Contrast: United Dominion Realty Trust (NYSE:UDR) versus Armada Hoffler Properties (NYSE:AHRT)

United Dominion Realty Trust (NYSE:UDR) and Armada Hoffler Properties (NYSE:AHRT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares United Dominion Realty Trust and Armada Hoffler Properties”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Dominion Realty Trust	$1.71 billion	7.10	$377.70 million	$1.47	25.44
Armada Hoffler Properties	$287.34 million	2.35	$5.60 million	($0.34)	-19.16

United Dominion Realty Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Armada Hoffler Properties. Armada Hoffler Properties 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 breakdown of current recommendations for United Dominion Realty Trust and Armada Hoffler Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Dominion Realty Trust	2	9	5	0	2.19
Armada Hoffler Properties	2	2	1	1	2.17

United Dominion Realty Trust presently has a consensus price target of $40.20, suggesting a potential upside of 7.48%. Armada Hoffler Properties has a consensus price target of $7.50, suggesting a potential upside of 15.12%. Given Armada Hoffler Properties’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Armada Hoffler Properties is more favorable than United Dominion Realty Trust.

Dividends

United Dominion Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Armada Hoffler Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.6%. United Dominion Realty Trust pays out 118.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Armada Hoffler Properties pays out -164.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. United Dominion Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Armada Hoffler Properties is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility & Risk

United Dominion Realty Trust has a beta of 0.73, indicating that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Armada Hoffler Properties has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.8% of United Dominion Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.3% of Armada Hoffler Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of United Dominion Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.9% of Armada Hoffler Properties shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares United Dominion Realty Trust and Armada Hoffler Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Dominion Realty Trust	28.60%	15.10%	4.65%
Armada Hoffler Properties	-6.87%	0.91%	0.23%

Summary

United Dominion Realty Trust beats Armada Hoffler Properties on 12 of the 18 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 Armada Hoffler Properties

Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc. (the “Company”) is a vertically integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust (“REIT”) with over four decades of experience developing, building, acquiring, and managing high-quality retail, office, and multifamily properties located primarily in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. In addition to the ownership of the Company’s operating property portfolio, the Company develops and builds properties for its own account and through joint ventures between the Company and unaffiliated partners and also invests in development projects through real estate financing arrangements. The Company also provides general construction and development services to third-party clients. The Company’s construction and development experience includes mid- and high-rise office buildings, retail strip malls, retail power centers, multifamily apartment communities, hotels and conference centers, single- and multi-tenant industrial, distribution, and manufacturing facilities, educational, medical, and special purpose facilities, government projects, parking garages, and mixed-use town centers. The Company is the sole general partner of Armada Hoffler, L.P. (the “Operating Partnership”) and, as of March 31, 2024, owned 75.5% of the economic interest in the Operating Partnership, of which 0.1% is held as general partnership units. The operations of the Company are conducted primarily through the Operating Partnership and the wholly owned subsidiaries thereof.