Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) vs. Armada Hoffler Properties (NYSE:AHH) Head-To-Head Contrast

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) and Armada Hoffler Properties (NYSE:AHH) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Independence Realty Trust and Armada Hoffler Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Independence Realty Trust	0	3	6	0	2.67
Armada Hoffler Properties	2	1	1	1	2.20

Independence Realty Trust currently has a consensus price target of $21.56, indicating a potential upside of 23.11%. Armada Hoffler Properties has a consensus price target of $8.13, indicating a potential upside of 22.83%. Given Independence Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Independence Realty Trust is more favorable than Armada Hoffler Properties.

Profitability

This table compares Independence Realty Trust and Armada Hoffler Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Independence Realty Trust	3.42%	0.62%	0.37%
Armada Hoffler Properties	6.77%	4.43%	1.22%

Dividends

Independence Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Armada Hoffler Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.5%. Independence Realty Trust pays out 680.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Armada Hoffler Properties pays out 294.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Independence Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Armada Hoffler Properties is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Independence Realty Trust and Armada Hoffler Properties”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Independence Realty Trust	$640.03 million	6.54	$39.29 million	$0.10	175.15
Armada Hoffler Properties	$708.47 million	0.97	$35.65 million	$0.19	34.82

Independence Realty Trust has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Armada Hoffler Properties. Armada Hoffler Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Independence Realty Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

88.3% of Independence Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.4% of Armada Hoffler Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Independence Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.9% of Armada Hoffler Properties shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Independence Realty Trust has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Armada Hoffler Properties has a beta of 1.06, indicating that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Armada Hoffler Properties beats Independence Realty Trust on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Independence Realty Trust

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: IRT) is a real estate investment trust that owns and operates multifamily communities, across non-gateway U.S. markets including Atlanta, GA, Dallas, TX, Denver, CO, Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, IN, Raleigh-Durham, NC, Oklahoma City, OK, Nashville, TN, Houston, TX, and Tampa, FL. IRT’s investment strategy is focused on gaining scale near major employment centers within key amenity rich submarkets that offer good school districts and high-quality retail. IRT aims to provide stockholders attractive risk-adjusted returns through diligent portfolio management, strong operational performance, and a consistent return on capital through distributions and capital appreciation.

About Armada Hoffler Properties

Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc. (the “Company”) is a vertically integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust (“REIT”) with over four decades of experience developing, building, acquiring, and managing high-quality retail, office, and multifamily properties located primarily in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. In addition to the ownership of the Company’s operating property portfolio, the Company develops and builds properties for its own account and through joint ventures between the Company and unaffiliated partners and also invests in development projects through real estate financing arrangements. The Company also provides general construction and development services to third-party clients. The Company’s construction and development experience includes mid- and high-rise office buildings, retail strip malls, retail power centers, multifamily apartment communities, hotels and conference centers, single- and multi-tenant industrial, distribution, and manufacturing facilities, educational, medical, and special purpose facilities, government projects, parking garages, and mixed-use town centers. The Company is the sole general partner of Armada Hoffler, L.P. (the “Operating Partnership”) and, as of March 31, 2024, owned 75.5% of the economic interest in the Operating Partnership, of which 0.1% is held as general partnership units. The operations of the Company are conducted primarily through the Operating Partnership and the wholly owned subsidiaries thereof.