Head-To-Head Review: Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV) versus Gadsden Properties (OTCMKTS:GADS)

Gadsden Properties (OTCMKTS:GADS) and Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

83.3% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.0% of Gadsden Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Gadsden Properties and Apartment Investment and Management, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gadsden Properties	0	0	0	0	0.00
Apartment Investment and Management	1	0	1	0	2.00

Apartment Investment and Management has a consensus price target of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 70.79%. Given Apartment Investment and Management’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Apartment Investment and Management is more favorable than Gadsden Properties.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gadsden Properties	N/A	N/A	N/A
Apartment Investment and Management	125.34%	-98.07%	-7.13%

Risk & Volatility

Gadsden Properties has a beta of -8.8, meaning that its share price is 980% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Apartment Investment and Management has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Gadsden Properties and Apartment Investment and Management”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gadsden Properties	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Apartment Investment and Management	$208.68 million	4.04	-$102.47 million	$1.72	3.40

Gadsden Properties has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Apartment Investment and Management.

Summary

Apartment Investment and Management beats Gadsden Properties on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Gadsden Properties

Gadsden Properties, Inc. is a Nevada corporation that was formed on December 28, 2010. Gadsden concentrates primarily on investments in high quality income-producing assets, residential developments and other opportunistic commercial properties in secondary and tertiary markets across the United States. The Company derives value from smaller, flexible retail investments that range from $5 million to $50 million and off-market mixed-use properties ranging from $50 million to $250 million. As a result of this chosen strategy, we believe that Gadsden is developing a unique competitive advantage that generally allows the Company to invest in markets and assets that are often overlooked by larger institutional investors, such as publicly-traded REITs and other large institutional investors. As part of its strategy, Gadsden attracts specific sellers that prefer the tax deferral advantages offered through issuing operating partnership units in exchange for their properties. These real estate assets are typically operated by independent owners that are seeking to monetize their real estate holdings, and who are typically not well capitalized or well-seasoned real estate operators. These transactions create a variety of outcomes for Gadsden and the sellers typically resulting in lease-up and value-added opportunities that may not be otherwise achieved.

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.