Comparing Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) & Invitation Home (NYSE:INVH)

Invitation Home (NYSE:INVH) and Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Invitation Home and Mid-America Apartment Communities, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Invitation Home	0	9	9	0	2.50
Mid-America Apartment Communities	2	11	8	0	2.29

Invitation Home presently has a consensus target price of $35.15, indicating a potential upside of 23.52%. Mid-America Apartment Communities has a consensus target price of $156.22, indicating a potential upside of 19.18%. Given Invitation Home’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Invitation Home is more favorable than Mid-America Apartment Communities.

Volatility and Risk

Invitation Home has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mid-America Apartment Communities has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

96.8% of Invitation Home shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.6% of Mid-America Apartment Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Invitation Home shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Mid-America Apartment Communities shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Invitation Home pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Mid-America Apartment Communities pays an annual dividend of $6.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Invitation Home pays out 122.1% 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 128.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Invitation Home has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Mid-America Apartment Communities has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years. Mid-America Apartment Communities is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Invitation Home and Mid-America Apartment Communities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Invitation Home	21.70%	6.03%	3.14%
Mid-America Apartment Communities	25.23%	9.10%	4.70%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Invitation Home and Mid-America Apartment Communities”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Invitation Home	$2.62 billion	6.66	$453.92 million	$0.95	29.95
Mid-America Apartment Communities	$2.20 billion	6.96	$527.54 million	$4.72	27.77

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

Summary

Mid-America Apartment Communities beats Invitation Home on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Invitation Home

Invitation Homes, an S&P 500 company, is the nation's premier single-family home leasing and management company, meeting changing lifestyle demands by providing access to high-quality, updated homes with valued features such as close proximity to jobs and access to good schools. The company's mission, Together with you, we make a house a home, reflects its commitment to providing homes where individuals and families can thrive and high-touch service that continuously enhances residents' living experiences.

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.