Equity Residential (EQR) Competitors

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

Does the media favor AVB or EQR?

In the previous week, AvalonBay Communities had 5 more articles in the media than Equity Residential. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for AvalonBay Communities and 18 mentions for Equity Residential. Equity Residential's average media sentiment score of 1.36 beat AvalonBay Communities' score of 1.26 indicating that Equity Residential is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AvalonBay Communities	15 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Equity Residential	16 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate AVB or EQR?

AvalonBay Communities presently has a consensus target price of $237.47, indicating a potential upside of 18.30%. Equity Residential has a consensus target price of $78.51, indicating a potential upside of 17.40%. Given AvalonBay Communities' higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe AvalonBay Communities is more favorable than Equity Residential.

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

Which has more risk and volatility, AVB or EQR?

AvalonBay Communities has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equity Residential has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AVB or EQR 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
AvalonBay Communities	37.13%	9.15%	5.15%
Equity Residential	34.76%	9.27%	5.09%

Is AVB or EQR a better dividend stock?

AvalonBay Communities pays an annual dividend of $7.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Equity Residential pays an annual dividend of $2.77 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. 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. 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.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, AVB or EQR?

AvalonBay Communities has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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
AvalonBay Communities	$2.91B	9.81	$1.08B	$7.59	26.45
Equity Residential	$2.98B	8.52	$1.04B	$2.72	24.59

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of AVB or EQR?

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

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer AVB or EQR?

AvalonBay Communities received 170 more outperform votes than Equity Residential when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 60.11% of users gave AvalonBay Communities an outperform vote while only 47.42% of users gave Equity Residential an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
AvalonBay Communities	Outperform Votes 675 60.11%	Underperform Votes 448 39.89%
Equity Residential	Outperform Votes 505 47.42%	Underperform Votes 560 52.58%

Summary

AvalonBay Communities beats Equity Residential on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.