ELS vs IRT vs AMH Stock Comparison

Equity Lifestyle Properties, Independence Realty Trust and American Homes 4 Rent Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AMH American Homes 4 Rent
$31.55 +2.8% 1M -1.0% 1Y
Market cap
$11.38B
P/E
24.5x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
0.04%
Residential REITs Real Estate
4 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Equity Lifestyle Properties leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Equity Lifestyle Properties 4, American Homes 4 Rent 4, Independence Realty Trust 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionELSIRTAMHLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.41B $3.46B $11.38B ELS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.2x 79.7x 24.5x AMH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 27.9x 105.7x 29.8x ELS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.2% +3.5% — IRT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 24.8% 6.5% — ELS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 7.8% — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 5.2x — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.04% 0.05% 0.04% IRT
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -1.7% -2.1% -1.0% AMH
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -7.0%/yr -8.9%/yr -4.9%/yr AMH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 18.7% 21.6% 20.2% ELS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 52/100 62/100 AMH

Percentile Scorecard

ELSIRTAMH

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

AxisELSIRTAMH
Valuation 11 #129 of 145 51 #72 of 145 50 #73 of 145
Growth 53 #68 of 143 54 #66 of 143 66 #50 of 143
Profitability 94 #9 of 136 52 #66 of 136 65 #48 of 136
Financial Health 37 #88 of 138 75 #36 of 138 61 #55 of 138
Shareholder Returns 55 #59 of 131 31 #91 of 131 68 #43 of 131
Overall 50 52 62
  • ELS ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • IRT ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • AMH ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodELSIRTAMHSPY
1 month +0.2%-0.3%+2.8% +0.7%
3 months -10.2%-11.3%-5.0% +3.7%
6 months -7.0%-9.3%-0.9% +7.1%
Year to date -2.9%-15.3%-1.7% +12.8%
1 year -1.7%-2.1%-1.0% +11.9%
3 years -10.5%+22.4%-2.0% +85.2%
3 years, per year -3.6%+7.0%-0.7% +22.8%
5 years -30.4%-37.4%-22.3% +67.6%
5 years, per year -7.0%-8.9%-4.9% +10.9%
10 years +58.7%+76.4%+53.0% +262.0%
10 years, per year +4.7%+5.8%+4.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureELSIRTAMHSPY
Volatility, 1Y 18.7%21.6%20.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 18.2%23.0%19.2% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.220.150.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.09-0.10-0.05 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -34.2%-57.1%-37.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.9%-16.7%-9.4% -1.2%
52-week high $68.37$17.77$34.81 $779.14
52-week low $57.64$14.46$27.38 $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.

MultipleELSIRTAMH
P/E now vs peer median 29.2xmedian 25.7x 80.1xmedian 25.7x 24.5xmedian 25.7x
P/S now vs peer median 7.2xmedian 4.1x 5.2xmedian 4.1x —median 4.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.1xmedian 14.3x —median 14.3x —median 14.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 30.8xmedian 23.5x -955.4xmedian 23.5x 1,092xmedian 23.5x
P/B now vs peer median 6.3xmedian 1.3x 1.0xmedian 1.3x 1.5xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median 3.26median 1.86 -5.10median 1.86 2.52median 1.86

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 monthsELSIRTAMH
Revenue $1.58B $666.83M –
Gross profit $1.44B – –
Operating income $412.54M – –
Net income $404.07M $44.30M $542.82M
Free cash flow $370.75M -$3.65M $10.37M
EPS (diluted) $1.95 $0.18 $1.29
Cash & equivalents $24.33M $46.70M $83.67M
Total debt $3.31B $2.44B $5.13B
Shares (diluted) 200.25M 236.04M 360.81M
Enterprise value $11.28B $3.28B $11.08B

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
MetricELSIRTAMH
P/E 29.2x 80.1x 24.5x
P/FCF 30.8x -955.4x 1,092x
P/Operating cash flow 19.2x 12.7x 13.1x
P/S 7.2x 5.2x –
P/B 6.3x 1.0x 1.5x
P/Tangible book 6.3x 1.0x 1.5x
EV/EBITDA 23.1x – –
EV/EBIT 35.6x – –
EV/Revenue 9.3x 8.8x –
EV/FCF 39.7x -1,612x 1,579x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.8x 21.3x 18.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.26 -5.10 2.52

Growth

14 metrics
MetricELSIRTAMH
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.2% 3.5% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.4% 0.9% –
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) 1.3% 57.0% 12.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.2% -14.6% 9.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 2.3% 55.3% 15.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.9% -15.7% 9.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 2.8% 0.2% 4.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.6% 1.3% 7.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 11.0% 98.0% 101.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.6% 71.2% 26.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricELSIRTAMH
Gross margin 91.0% – –
EBITDA margin 40.3% – –
Operating margin 26.1% – –
Pretax margin 18.3% – –
Net margin 24.8% 6.5% –
FCF margin 23.5% -0.5% –
Operating cash flow margin 37.6% 41.4% –
Return on equity 22.3% 1.3% 7.2%
Return on assets 7.0% 0.7% 4.1%
Return on invested capital 7.8% – –
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.1x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x 6.2x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 1.2% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricELSIRTAMH
Debt / assets 57.4% 40.1% 39.1%
Debt / equity 1.8x 0.7x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 5.2x – –
Debt / FCF 8.9x -669.1x 494.5x
Liabilities / assets 68.7% 42.8% 43.0%
Equity / assets 31.3% 57.2% 57.0%
Interest coverage 3.0x – –
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricELSIRTAMH
Dividend yield 3.6% 4.7% 4.1%
Net buyback yield 0.0% -2.4% 2.1%
Shareholder yield 3.6% 2.4% 6.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 101.5% 363.2% 85.3%
Payout ratio (FCF) 110.6% -4,405% 4,462%
Dividend growth (1Y) 8.7% 10.2% 11.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 8.7% 8.7% 17.4%

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.

ConsensusELSIRTAMH
Forward P/E 27.9xFY2026 105.7xFY2026 29.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.11FY2026 $0.14FY2026 $1.06FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +5.0%FY2026 -41.7%FY2026 -10.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +9.0% +50.0% -18.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.52BFY2026 $637.39MFY2026 $2.04BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -0.6%FY2026 -2.9%FY2026 +10.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +14.4% +20.7% -0.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersELSIRTAMH
Held by institutions 100.0% 98.8% 90.3%
Institutions holding 477 396 482
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.6% +2.0% +8.2%
Institutions buying 220 189 255
Institutions selling 190 141 160
Buyers to sellers 1.16 1.34 1.59

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.

ELSIRTAMH
ELS 1.00 0.54 0.56
IRT 0.54 1.00 0.65
AMH 0.56 0.65 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ELS, IRT and AMH?

Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) $11.41B, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) $3.46B, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) $11.38B.

Which stock is cheaper, ELS, IRT and AMH?

American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 29.2x, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) 79.7x, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) 24.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) is cheapest (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 27.9x, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) 105.7x, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) 29.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Independence Realty Trust (IRT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) +3.2%, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) +3.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) has the highest net margin (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 24.8%, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) 6.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) returned the most: Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) -1.7%, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) -2.1%, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) -1.0%. Over five years, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) compounded fastest (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) -7.0%/yr, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) -8.9%/yr, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) -4.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Independence Realty Trust (IRT) has the highest dividend yield: Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 0.04%, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) 0.05%, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) 0.04%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) has been the steadiest (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 18.7%, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) 21.6%, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) 20.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 4. 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.