AMH vs MAA vs ELS Stock Comparison

American Homes 4 Rent, Mid America Apartment Communities and Equity Lifestyle Properties Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AMH American Homes 4 Rent
$31.84 +3.9% 1M -4.7% 1Y
Market cap
$11.33B
P/E
24.4x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
0.04%
Residential REITs Real Estate
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Equity Lifestyle Properties leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Equity Lifestyle Properties 6, Mid America Apartment Communities 3, American Homes 4 Rent 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAMHMAAELSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.33B $13.59B $11.35B MAA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.4x 34.0x 29.0x AMH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 30.0x 33.3x 28.2x ELS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +0.8% +3.2% ELS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 18.0% 24.8% ELS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 5.3% 7.8% ELS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 4.5x 5.2x MAA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.04% 0.05% 0.04% MAA
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -4.7% -10.7% -3.9% ELS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -4.8%/yr -10.5%/yr -6.9%/yr AMH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 20.3% 19.8% 18.6% ELS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 63/100 51/100 50/100 AMH

Percentile Scorecard

AMHMAAELS

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAMHMAAELS
Valuation 50 #73 of 145 45 #80 of 145 10 #130 of 145
Growth 69 #45 of 141 15 #120 of 141 51 #69 of 141
Profitability 67 #45 of 134 87 #18 of 134 94 #9 of 134
Financial Health 61 #54 of 138 60 #56 of 138 39 #84 of 138
Shareholder Returns 68 #43 of 131 46 #71 of 131 55 #60 of 131
Overall 63 51 50
  • AMH ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • MAA ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • ELS ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAMHMAAELSSPY
1 month +3.9%+0.3%+0.4% -0.2%
3 months -5.7%-12.5%-9.9% +3.9%
6 months +1.1%-8.9%-5.0% +8.2%
Year to date -0.8%-14.5%-1.8% +12.9%
1 year -4.7%-10.7%-3.9% +12.3%
3 years +1.1%+1.0%-7.5% +87.4%
3 years, per year +0.4%+0.3%-2.6% +23.3%
5 years -21.7%-42.4%-30.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year -4.8%-10.5%-6.9% +10.9%
10 years +54.6%+32.0%+63.3% +261.1%
10 years, per year +4.5%+2.8%+5.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAMHMAAELSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 20.3%19.8%18.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.5%19.2%18.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.010.05-0.22 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.23-0.54-0.21 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -37.2%-50.2%-34.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -8.5%-16.5%-13.0% -1.2%
52-week high $34.81$142.19$68.37 $779.14
52-week low $27.38$114.20$57.64 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAMHMAAELS
P/E now vs peer median 24.7xmedian 26.3x 34.5xmedian 26.3x 29.5xmedian 26.3x
P/S now vs peer median —median 4.0x 6.2xmedian 4.0x 7.3xmedian 4.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.4x 15.3xmedian 14.4x 23.3xmedian 14.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 1,102xmedian 23.3x 29.1xmedian 23.3x 31.1xmedian 23.3x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.3x 2.5xmedian 1.3x 6.4xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median 2.55median 1.91 -2.82median 1.91 3.30median 1.91

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAMHMAAELS
Revenue – $2.22B $1.58B
Gross profit – – $1.44B
Operating income – – $412.54M
Net income $542.82M $410.71M $404.07M
Free cash flow $10.37M $473.83M $370.75M
EPS (diluted) $1.29 $3.44 $1.95
Cash & equivalents $83.67M $51.84M $24.33M
Total debt $5.13B $21.95B $3.31B
Shares (diluted) 360.81M 116.14M 200.25M
Enterprise value $11.02B $13.38B $11.22B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAMHMAAELS
P/E 24.7x 34.5x 29.5x
P/FCF 1,102x 29.1x 31.1x
P/Operating cash flow 13.2x 13.6x 19.5x
P/S – 6.2x 7.3x
P/B 1.5x 2.5x 6.4x
P/Tangible book 1.5x 2.5x 6.4x
EV/EBITDA – 15.3x 23.3x
EV/EBIT – 31.4x 35.9x
EV/Revenue – 8.8x 9.4x
EV/FCF 1,589x 41.0x 40.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 19.1x 19.2x 25.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.55 -2.82 3.30

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAMHMAAELS
Revenue growth (1Y) – 0.8% 3.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 1.6% 2.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – 3.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – 3.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) – – 4.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – 16.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 12.2% -30.0% 1.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.1% -12.5% 9.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 15.9% -29.0% 2.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 9.7% -12.2% 8.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 4.1% -8.0% 2.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.2% -4.2% 6.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 101.6% -12.0% 11.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 26.4% -4.5% 22.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAMHMAAELS
Gross margin – – 91.0%
EBITDA margin – 57.1% 40.3%
Operating margin – – 26.1%
Pretax margin – 18.8% 18.3%
Net margin – 18.0% 24.8%
FCF margin – 21.4% 23.5%
Operating cash flow margin – 45.6% 37.6%
Return on equity 7.2% 7.3% 22.3%
Return on assets 4.1% 3.4% 7.0%
Return on invested capital – 5.3% 7.8%
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover – 0.2x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 2.5x 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.9% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAMHMAAELS
Debt / assets 39.1% 47.5% 57.4%
Debt / equity 0.7x 1.0x 1.8x
Net debt / EBITDA – 4.5x 5.2x
Debt / FCF 494.5x 12.0x 8.9x
Liabilities / assets 43.0% 53.5% 68.7%
Equity / assets 57.0% 46.5% 31.3%
Interest coverage – 3.1x 3.0x
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAMHMAAELS
Dividend yield 4.1% 5.2% 3.6%
Net buyback yield 2.0% 0.9% 0.0%
Shareholder yield 6.1% 6.0% 3.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) 85.3% 173.3% 101.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) 4,462% 150.2% 110.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) 11.3% 2.0% 8.7%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 17.4% 5.1% 8.7%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAMHMAAELS
Forward P/E 30.0xFY2026 33.3xFY2026 28.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.06FY2026 $3.57FY2026 $2.11FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -10.2%FY2026 -5.6%FY2026 +5.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -18.9% -9.0% +9.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.04BFY2026 $2.29BFY2026 $1.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +10.0%FY2026 +3.8%FY2026 -0.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.6% +1.5% +14.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAMHMAAELS
Held by institutions 90.7% 97.1% 100.0%
Institutions holding 480 771 476
Change in shares held, QoQ +8.2% +8.2% +2.6%
Institutions buying 253 395 220
Institutions selling 160 262 190
Buyers to sellers 1.58 1.51 1.16

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AMHMAAELS
AMH 1.00 0.76 0.55
MAA 0.76 1.00 0.57
ELS 0.55 0.57 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AMH, MAA and ELS?

Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) is the largest by market capitalisation: American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) $11.33B, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) $13.59B, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) $11.35B.

Which stock is cheaper, AMH, MAA and ELS?

American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) 24.4x, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) 34.0x, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 29.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) is cheapest (American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) 30.0x, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) 33.3x, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 28.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) +0.8%, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) +3.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) has the highest net margin (Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) 18.0%, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 24.8%). On return on invested capital, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) leads (Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) 5.3%, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 7.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) returned the most: American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) -4.7%, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) -10.7%, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) -3.9%. Over five years, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) compounded fastest (American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) -4.8%/yr, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) -10.5%/yr, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) -6.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) has the highest dividend yield: American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) 0.04%, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) 0.05%, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 0.04%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) has been the steadiest (American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) 20.3%, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) 19.8%, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 18.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AMH, MAA and ELS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.