American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) vs. Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) Financial Survey

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) and Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares American Homes 4 Rent and Sun Communities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Homes 4 Rent	24.70%	5.90%	3.46%
Sun Communities	42.58%	-4.53%	-2.29%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares American Homes 4 Rent and Sun Communities”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Homes 4 Rent	$1.73 billion	6.62	$412.43 million	$1.18	26.12
Sun Communities	$3.22 billion	4.92	$101.80 million	$7.98	16.04

American Homes 4 Rent has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Sun Communities. Sun Communities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Homes 4 Rent, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

91.9% of American Homes 4 Rent shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.6% of Sun Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.0% of American Homes 4 Rent shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Sun Communities shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for American Homes 4 Rent and Sun Communities, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Homes 4 Rent	0	7	8	0	2.53
Sun Communities	1	7	5	0	2.31

American Homes 4 Rent currently has a consensus price target of $38.14, indicating a potential upside of 23.74%. Sun Communities has a consensus price target of $137.42, indicating a potential upside of 7.33%. Given American Homes 4 Rent’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe American Homes 4 Rent is more favorable than Sun Communities.

Risk & Volatility

American Homes 4 Rent has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sun Communities has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

American Homes 4 Rent pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Sun Communities pays an annual dividend of $4.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. American Homes 4 Rent pays out 101.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Sun Communities pays out 52.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Homes 4 Rent has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Sun Communities has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years.

Summary

American Homes 4 Rent beats Sun Communities on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Homes 4 Rent

American Homes 4 Rent operates as a real estate investment trust. It engages in the acquisition, renovation, leasing, and operating of single-family homes as rental properties. The company was founded by Bradley Wayne Hughes, Sr. on October 19, 2012 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, NV.

About Sun Communities

Established in 1975, Sun Communities, Inc. became a publicly owned corporation in December 1993. The Company is a fully integrated REIT listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol: SUI. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned, operated, or had an interest in a portfolio of 667 developed MH, RV and Marina properties comprising 179,310 developed sites and approximately 48,030 wet slips and dry storage spaces in the U.S., the UK and Canada.