Equity Lifestyle Properties vs Sun Communities
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The short version
- Sun Communities is the larger business, with $2.3B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.5B for Equity Lifestyle Properties, about 1.5 times as much.
- Sun Communities grew revenue faster (2.0%, against 0.3%).
- Equity Lifestyle Properties turned more of its sales into free cash flow (21.8% FCF margin, against 17.7%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Equity Lifestyle Properties’s earnings: a P/E of 30.4x against 10.9x for Sun Communities.
| Latest fiscal year | ELS · FY25 | SUI · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $12.2B | $15.1B |
| Revenue | $1.5B | $2.3B |
| Free cash flow | $334M | $407M |
| Net income | $402M | $1.4B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 0.3% | 2.0% |
| 5-year growth | 6.5% | 10.5% |
| Share count change | 1.8% | −1.8% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 25.6% | — |
| Net margin | 26.3% | 61.3% |
| FCF margin | 21.8% | 17.7% |
| Return on capital | 7.7% | — |
| Return on equity | 23.0% | 20.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $3.3B | — |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 5.5x | — |
| Dividends and buybacks | $388M | $1.6B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 30.4x | 10.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | — | — |
Revenue
FY16
ELS $870M
SUI $834M
FY17
ELS $925M
SUI $983M
FY18
ELS $987M
SUI $1.1B
FY19
ELS $1.0B
SUI $1.3B
FY20
ELS $1.1B
SUI $1.4B
FY21
ELS $1.3B
SUI $2.3B
FY22
ELS $1.4B
SUI $3.0B
FY23
ELS $1.5B
SUI $2.3B
FY24
ELS $1.5B
SUI $2.3B
FY25
ELS $1.5B
SUI $2.3B
ELS
SUI
Operating margin
FY16
ELS 36.2%
SUI 56.0%
FY17
ELS 36.4%
SUI 56.1%
FY18
ELS 36.0%
SUI —
FY19
ELS —
SUI —
FY20
ELS —
SUI —
FY21
ELS 20.7%
SUI —
FY22
ELS 20.4%
SUI —
FY23
ELS 21.5%
SUI —
FY24
ELS 24.9%
SUI —
FY25
ELS 25.6%
SUI —
ELS
SUI
Free cash flow
FY16
ELS $233M
SUI $18.0M
FY17
ELS $236M
SUI −$30.6M
FY18
ELS $162M
SUI −$26.3M
FY19
ELS $385M
SUI −$92.5M
FY20
ELS $208M
SUI $4.8M
FY21
ELS $111M
SUI $81.0M
FY22
ELS $343M
SUI −$186M
FY23
ELS $231M
SUI $783M
FY24
ELS $355M
SUI $831M
FY25
ELS $334M
SUI $407M
ELS
SUI
Return on capital
FY16
ELS 8.1%
SUI —
FY17
ELS 8.3%
SUI 9.9%
FY18
ELS 8.3%
SUI 4.4%
FY19
ELS 8.8%
SUI 5.4%
FY20
ELS 7.4%
SUI 5.6%
FY21
ELS 6.5%
SUI 7.2%
FY22
ELS 6.2%
SUI 4.5%
FY23
ELS 6.5%
SUI 1.4%
FY24
ELS 7.6%
SUI 1.2%
FY25
ELS 7.7%
SUI —
ELS
SUI
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.