Financial Contrast: CTO Realty Growth (NYSE:CTO) vs. Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Apartment Investment and Management	-119.76%	-68.04%	-11.72%
CTO Realty Growth	-1.58%	-0.38%	-0.18%

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Apartment Investment and Management	$208.68 million	5.34	-$166.20 million	($0.74)	-10.60
CTO Realty Growth	$124.52 million	4.65	$5.53 million	($0.22)	-82.67

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

Dividends

Apartment Investment and Management pays an annual dividend of $1.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.9%. CTO Realty Growth pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.4%. Apartment Investment and Management pays out -136.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CTO Realty Growth pays out -690.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Apartment Investment and Management	0	0	0	0	0.00
CTO Realty Growth	0	0	2	2	3.50

CTO Realty Growth has a consensus price target of $21.50, indicating a potential upside of 18.22%. Given CTO Realty Growth’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe CTO Realty Growth is more favorable than Apartment Investment and Management.

Volatility and Risk

Apartment Investment and Management has a beta of 1.29, suggesting that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CTO Realty Growth has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

83.3% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.2% of CTO Realty Growth shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of CTO Realty Growth shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

CTO Realty Growth beats Apartment Investment and Management on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About CTO Realty Growth

CTO Realty Growth, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns and operates a portfolio of high-quality, retail-based properties located primarily in higher growth markets in the United States. CTO also externally manages and owns a meaningful interest in Alpine Income Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: PINE), a publicly traded net lease REIT.