Reviewing Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) & Equity Lifestyle Properties (NYSE:ELS)

Equity Lifestyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) and Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) are both large-cap real estate companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Equity Lifestyle Properties pays an annual dividend of $2.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Mid-America Apartment Communities pays an annual dividend of $6.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Equity Lifestyle Properties pays out 106.9% 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 185.5% 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 has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years and Mid-America Apartment Communities has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Equity Lifestyle Properties and Mid-America Apartment Communities, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equity Lifestyle Properties	2	6	6	1	2.40
Mid-America Apartment Communities	1	12	8	0	2.33

Equity Lifestyle Properties presently has a consensus price target of $67.09, indicating a potential upside of 10.98%. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a consensus price target of $138.06, indicating a potential upside of 16.58%. Given Mid-America Apartment Communities’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Mid-America Apartment Communities is more favorable than Equity Lifestyle Properties.

Risk & Volatility

Equity Lifestyle Properties has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mid-America Apartment Communities has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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	24.97%	21.73%	6.84%
Mid-America Apartment Communities	17.43%	6.80%	3.23%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Equity Lifestyle Properties and Mid-America Apartment Communities”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equity Lifestyle Properties	$1.53 billion	7.69	$386.51 million	$2.03	29.78
Mid-America Apartment Communities	$2.21 billion	6.22	$446.91 million	$3.30	35.88

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.2% of Equity Lifestyle Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.6% of Mid-America Apartment Communities shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Equity Lifestyle Properties shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Mid-America Apartment Communities shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Equity Lifestyle Properties beats Mid-America Apartment Communities on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Equity Lifestyle Properties

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the ownership and operation of lifestyle-oriented properties consisting primarily of manufactured home, and recreational vehicle communities. It operates through the following segments: Property Operations and Home Sales and Rentals Operations. The Property Operations segment owns and operates land lease properties. The Home Sales and Rentals Operations segment purchases, sells, and leases homes. The company was founded by James M. Hankins in December 1992 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL.

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.