Head-To-Head Survey: Orion Office REIT (NYSE:ONL) & Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV)

Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV) and Orion Office REIT (NYSE:ONL) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations.

Risk and Volatility

Apartment Investment and Management has a beta of 1.38, meaning that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Orion Office REIT has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Apartment Investment and Management pays an annual dividend of $1.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.1%. Orion Office REIT pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.7%. Apartment Investment and Management pays out -136.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Orion Office REIT pays out -26.0% 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. Apartment Investment and Management is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Apartment Investment and Management and Orion Office REIT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Apartment Investment and Management	-119.76%	-68.04%	-11.72%
Orion Office REIT	-50.76%	-10.28%	-6.26%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Apartment Investment and Management and Orion Office REIT”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Apartment Investment and Management	$208.68 million	6.16	-$166.20 million	($0.74)	-12.24
Orion Office REIT	$170.25 million	1.35	-$57.30 million	($1.54)	-2.68

Orion Office REIT has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Apartment Investment and Management. Apartment Investment and Management is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Orion Office REIT, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Apartment Investment and Management and Orion Office REIT, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Apartment Investment and Management	0	0	0	0	0.00
Orion Office REIT	0	1	0	0	2.00

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.3% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.9% of Orion Office REIT shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.0% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Orion Office REIT shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Apartment Investment and Management beats Orion Office REIT on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Orion Office REIT

Orion Office REIT specializes in the ownership, acquisition and management of a diversified portfolio of mission-critical and corporate headquarters office buildings in high-quality suburban markets across the U.S. The portfolio is leased primarily on a single-tenant net lease basis to creditworthy tenants. The company's team of experienced industry leaders employs a proven, cycle-tested investment evaluation framework which serves as the lens through which capital allocation decisions are made for the current portfolio and future acquisitions.