Head-To-Head Contrast: Lennar (NYSE:LEN) & Comstock Holding Companies (NASDAQ:CHCI)

Comstock Holding Companies (NASDAQ:CHCI) and Lennar (NYSE:LEN) are both construction companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

6.4% of Comstock Holding Companies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.1% of Lennar shares are owned by institutional investors. 36.2% of Comstock Holding Companies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.0% of Lennar shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Comstock Holding Companies and Lennar, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Comstock Holding Companies	0	1	0	0	2.00
Lennar	2	13	3	1	2.16

Lennar has a consensus price target of $121.75, suggesting a potential downside of 7.24%. Given Lennar’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Lennar is more favorable than Comstock Holding Companies.

Profitability

This table compares Comstock Holding Companies and Lennar’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Comstock Holding Companies	28.35%	30.98%	25.69%
Lennar	7.72%	11.09%	7.34%

Risk & Volatility

Comstock Holding Companies has a beta of 0.12, indicating that its stock price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lennar has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Comstock Holding Companies and Lennar”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Comstock Holding Companies	$55.51 million	2.48	$14.56 million	$1.33	10.24
Lennar	$34.77 billion	0.96	$3.93 billion	$10.12	12.97

Lennar has higher revenue and earnings than Comstock Holding Companies. Comstock Holding Companies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lennar, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Lennar beats Comstock Holding Companies on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Comstock Holding Companies

Comstock Holding Companies, Inc. operates as a real estate asset manager, developer, and operator of mixed-use and transit-oriented properties in the Washington, D.C. region. The company acquires, develops, operates, and sells residential, commercial, and mixed-use properties. It also provides various asset and property management, development and construction management, and other real estate services to its asset-owning clients, which include primarily of institutional real estate investors, high net worth family offices, and governmental bodies. The company was formerly known as Comstock Homebuilding Companies, Inc. and changed its name to Comstock Holding Companies, Inc. in June 2012. Comstock Holding Companies, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a homebuilder primarily under the Lennar brand in the United States. It operates through Homebuilding East, Homebuilding Central, Homebuilding Texas, Homebuilding West, Financial Services, Multifamily, and Lennar Other segments. The company’s homebuilding operations include the construction and sale of single-family attached and detached homes, as well as the purchase, development, and sale of residential land; and development, construction, and management of multifamily rental properties. It also offers residential mortgage financing, title, insurance, and closing services for home buyers and others, as well as originates and sells securitization commercial mortgage loans. In addition, the company is involved in the fund investment activity. It primarily serves first-time, move-up, active adult, and luxury homebuyers. Lennar Corporation was founded in 1954 and is based in Miami, Florida.