Comparing Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) & United Dominion Realty Trust (NYSE:UDR)

Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE:MAA) and United Dominion Realty Trust (NYSE:UDR) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Mid-America Apartment Communities and United Dominion Realty Trust”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mid-America Apartment Communities	$2.19 billion	7.38	$527.54 million	$4.86	28.42
United Dominion Realty Trust	$1.67 billion	7.32	$89.58 million	$0.38	97.14

Mid-America Apartment Communities has higher revenue and earnings than United Dominion Realty Trust. Mid-America Apartment Communities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than United Dominion Realty Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Mid-America Apartment Communities and United Dominion Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mid-America Apartment Communities	25.98%	9.35%	4.84%
United Dominion Realty Trust	7.81%	4.11%	1.27%

Volatility and Risk

Mid-America Apartment Communities has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Dominion Realty Trust has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Mid-America Apartment Communities and United Dominion Realty Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mid-America Apartment Communities	3	9	8	0	2.25
United Dominion Realty Trust	0	11	4	0	2.27

Mid-America Apartment Communities presently has a consensus target price of $161.78, suggesting a potential upside of 17.12%. United Dominion Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $43.81, suggesting a potential upside of 18.67%. Given United Dominion Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe United Dominion Realty Trust is more favorable than Mid-America Apartment Communities.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.6% of Mid-America Apartment Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.8% of United Dominion Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Mid-America Apartment Communities shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of United Dominion Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Mid-America Apartment Communities pays an annual dividend of $6.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. United Dominion Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Mid-America Apartment Communities pays out 124.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. United Dominion Realty Trust pays out 452.6% 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 has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years and United Dominion Realty Trust has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years.

Summary

Mid-America Apartment Communities beats United Dominion Realty Trust on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About United Dominion Realty Trust

UDR, Inc. (NYSE: UDR), an S&P 500 company, is a leading multifamily real estate investment trust with a demonstrated performance history of delivering superior and dependable returns by successfully managing, buying, selling, developing and redeveloping attractive real estate communities in targeted U.S. markets. As of December 31, 2023, UDR owned or had an ownership position in 60,336 apartment homes including 359 homes under development. For over 51 years, UDR has delivered long-term value to shareholders, the best standard of service to Residents and the highest quality experience for Associates.