Contrasting Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) & Invitation Home (NYSE:INVH)

Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) and Invitation Home (NYSE:INVH) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, earnings and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

87.9% of Elme Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.8% of Invitation Home shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Elme Communities shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Invitation Home shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Elme Communities and Invitation Home’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Elme Communities	-54.57%	-13.15%	-7.52%
Invitation Home	21.70%	6.03%	3.14%

Dividends

Elme Communities pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Invitation Home pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Elme Communities pays out -47.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Invitation Home pays out 126.3% 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 raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Invitation Home is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Elme Communities and Invitation Home, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Elme Communities	1	3	0	0	1.75
Invitation Home	0	9	8	0	2.47

Elme Communities presently has a consensus price target of $18.50, suggesting a potential upside of 6.26%. Invitation Home has a consensus price target of $34.59, suggesting a potential upside of 24.30%. Given Invitation Home’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Invitation Home is more favorable than Elme Communities.

Risk and Volatility

Elme Communities has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Invitation Home has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Elme Communities and Invitation Home”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Elme Communities	$241.93 million	6.34	-$13.10 million	($1.52)	-11.45
Invitation Home	$2.62 billion	6.51	$453.92 million	$0.95	29.29

Invitation Home has higher revenue and earnings than Elme Communities. Elme 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

Invitation Home beats Elme Communities on 15 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Elme Communities

Elme Communities is committed to elevating what home can be for middle-income renters by providing a higher level of quality, service, and experience. The Company is a multifamily real estate investment trust that owns and operates approximately 9,400 apartment homes in the Washington, DC metro and the Atlanta metro regions, and owns approximately 300,000 square feet of commercial space. Focused on providing quality, affordable homes to a deep, solid, and underserved base of mid-market demand, Elme Communities is building long-term value for shareholders.

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.