Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) versus Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:CDPYF) Critical Contrast

Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) and Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:CDPYF) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Sun Communities and Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sun Communities	1	6	8	2	2.65
Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust	0	0	0	0	0.00

Sun Communities currently has a consensus price target of $139.42, suggesting a potential upside of 14.64%. Given Sun Communities’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Sun Communities is more favorable than Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sun Communities and Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sun Communities	$2.31 billion	6.42	$1.37 billion	($7.09)	-17.15
Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A	$2.94	8.00

Sun Communities has higher revenue and earnings than Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust. Sun Communities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Sun Communities pays an annual dividend of $4.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Sun Communities pays out -63.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust pays out 39.4% 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. Sun Communities has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

99.6% of Sun Communities shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 23.7% of Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Sun Communities shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Sun Communities and Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sun Communities	-39.03%	2.63%	1.49%
Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Sun Communities beats Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sun Communities

Established in 1975, Sun Communities, Inc. became a publicly owned corporation in December 1993. The Company is a fully integrated REIT listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol: SUI. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned, operated, or had an interest in a portfolio of 667 developed MH, RV and Marina properties comprising 179,310 developed sites and approximately 48,030 wet slips and dry storage spaces in the U.S., the UK and Canada.

About Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust

CAPREIT is Canada's largest publicly traded provider of quality rental housing. As at December 31, 2023, CAPREIT owns approximately 64,300 residential apartment suites, townhomes and manufactured home community sites that are well-located across Canada and the Netherlands, with approximately $16.5 billion of investment properties in Canada and Europe.