AvalonBay Communities (AVB) Competitors

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) and AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, media sentiment, community ranking, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Is EQR or AVB a better dividend stock?

Equity Residential pays an annual dividend of $2.77 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. AvalonBay Communities pays an annual dividend of $7.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Equity Residential pays out 101.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. AvalonBay Communities pays out 92.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in EQR or AVB?

92.7% of Equity Residential shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.6% of AvalonBay Communities shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Equity Residential shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of AvalonBay Communities shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media prefer EQR or AVB?

In the previous week, Equity Residential had 2 more articles in the media than AvalonBay Communities. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for Equity Residential and 17 mentions for AvalonBay Communities. Equity Residential's average media sentiment score of 1.36 beat AvalonBay Communities' score of 1.21 indicating that Equity Residential is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Equity Residential	16 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
AvalonBay Communities	15 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate EQR or AVB?

Equity Residential currently has a consensus target price of $78.51, indicating a potential upside of 10.18%. AvalonBay Communities has a consensus target price of $238.64, indicating a potential upside of 11.59%. Given AvalonBay Communities' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AvalonBay Communities is more favorable than Equity Residential.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equity Residential	0 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
AvalonBay Communities	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.53

Which has more risk & volatility, EQR or AVB?

Equity Residential has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AvalonBay Communities has a beta of 1, indicating that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Is EQR or AVB more profitable?

AvalonBay Communities has a net margin of 37.13% compared to Equity Residential's net margin of 34.76%. Equity Residential's return on equity of 9.27% beat AvalonBay Communities' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equity Residential	34.76%	9.27%	5.09%
AvalonBay Communities	37.13%	9.15%	5.15%

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, EQR or AVB?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equity Residential	$2.98B	9.08	$1.04B	$2.72	26.20
AvalonBay Communities	$2.91B	10.44	$1.08B	$7.59	28.18

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer EQR or AVB?

AvalonBay Communities received 170 more outperform votes than Equity Residential when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 60.21% of users gave AvalonBay Communities an outperform vote while only 47.42% of users gave Equity Residential an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Equity Residential	Outperform Votes 505 47.42%	Underperform Votes 560 52.58%
AvalonBay Communities	Outperform Votes 675 60.21%	Underperform Votes 446 39.79%

Summary

AvalonBay Communities beats Equity Residential on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.