Critical Review: Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT) vs. Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI)

Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT) and Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Camden Property Trust has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sun Communities has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Camden Property Trust and Sun Communities, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Camden Property Trust	2	9	7	0	2.28
Sun Communities	1	7	5	0	2.31

Camden Property Trust currently has a consensus price target of $119.04, suggesting a potential upside of 13.16%. Sun Communities has a consensus price target of $137.83, suggesting a potential upside of 8.09%. Given Camden Property Trust’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Camden Property Trust is more favorable than Sun Communities.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Camden Property Trust and Sun Communities”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Camden Property Trust	$1.57 billion	7.13	$163.29 million	$2.47	42.59
Sun Communities	$3.22 billion	4.89	$101.80 million	$7.98	15.98

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

Dividends

Camden Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $4.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Sun Communities pays an annual dividend of $4.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Camden Property Trust pays out 170.0% 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. Camden Property Trust has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Sun Communities has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.2% of Camden Property Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.6% of Sun Communities shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Camden Property Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Sun Communities shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Camden Property Trust and Sun Communities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Camden Property Trust	9.99%	3.30%	1.74%
Sun Communities	42.58%	-4.51%	-2.19%

Summary

Sun Communities beats Camden Property Trust on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Camden Property Trust

Camden Property Trust, an S&P 500 Company, is a real estate company primarily engaged in the ownership, management, development, redevelopment, acquisition, and construction of multifamily apartment communities. Camden owns and operates 172 properties containing 58,250 apartment homes across the United States. Upon completion of 5 properties currently under development, the Company’s portfolio will increase to 59,996 apartment homes in 177 properties. Camden has been recognized as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For by FORTUNE magazine for 17 consecutive years, most recently ranking #24.

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.