Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI – Get Free Report) and City Office REIT (NYSE:CIO – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, valuation and risk.
Profitability
This table compares Sun Communities and City Office REIT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Sun Communities | 7.46% | 3.21% | 1.40% |
| City Office REIT | -10.33% | -2.74% | -1.19% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Sun Communities and City Office REIT, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Sun Communities | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2.36 |
| City Office REIT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
99.6% of Sun Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.5% of City Office REIT shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Sun Communities shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of City Office REIT shares are owned by company 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.
Risk & Volatility
Sun Communities has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, City Office REIT has a beta of 2, indicating that its share price is 100% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Sun Communities and City Office REIT”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Sun Communities | $3.20 billion | 5.21 | -$201.00 million | $0.74 | 177.03 |
| City Office REIT | $171.13 million | 1.19 | -$2.68 million | ($0.62) | -8.17 |
City Office REIT has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Sun Communities. City Office REIT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sun Communities, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Dividends
Sun Communities pays an annual dividend of $3.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. City Office REIT pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.9%. Sun Communities pays out 508.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. City Office REIT pays out -64.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. City Office REIT is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Summary
Sun Communities beats City Office REIT on 11 of the 16 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 City Office REIT
City Office REIT is an internally-managed real estate company focused on acquiring, owning and operating high-quality office properties located predominantly in Sun Belt markets. City Office currently owns or has a controlling interest in 5.7 million square feet of office properties. The Company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
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