Head to Head Survey: Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) vs. Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV)

Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) and Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Safehold and Apartment Investment and Management, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Safehold	1	7	4	0	2.25
Apartment Investment and Management	1	0	1	0	2.00

Safehold currently has a consensus target price of $19.33, suggesting a potential upside of 43.71%. Apartment Investment and Management has a consensus target price of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 152.84%. Given Apartment Investment and Management’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Apartment Investment and Management is more favorable than Safehold.

Volatility and Risk

Safehold has a beta of 1.8, suggesting that its stock price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Apartment Investment and Management has a beta of 1.35, suggesting that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Safehold and Apartment Investment and Management”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Safehold	$385.55 million	2.50	$114.47 million	$1.60	8.41
Apartment Investment and Management	$138.49 million	4.11	$554.01 million	$3.88	1.02

Apartment Investment and Management has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Safehold. Apartment Investment and Management is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Safehold, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Safehold and Apartment Investment and Management’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Safehold	29.69%	4.92%	1.67%
Apartment Investment and Management	316.79%	9.05%	0.96%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

70.4% of Safehold shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.3% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.5% of Safehold shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Apartment Investment and Management beats Safehold on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Safehold

Safehold Inc. (NYSE: SAFE) is revolutionizing real estate ownership by providing a new and better way for owners to unlock the value of the land beneath their buildings. Having created the modern ground lease industry in 2017, Safehold continues to help owners of high quality multifamily, office, industrial, hospitality, student housing, life science and mixed-use properties generate higher returns with less risk. The Company, which is taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT), seeks to deliver safe, growing income and long-term capital appreciation to its shareholders.

About Apartment Investment and Management

Apartment Investment & Management Co. operates as a real estate investment trust that engages in the acquisition, ownership, management and redevelopment of apartment properties. The company was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in Denver, CO.