Top Real Estate Stocks by Free Cash Flow
Top real estate companies ranked by free cash flow, latest annual filings.
What Free Cash Flow Means for Real Estate Companies
Free cash flow in real estate is less informative than in most sectors. REITs and property firms typically carry large acquisition and development spending that flows through capex, and the cash position is dominated by how recently new properties were bought or built. Because of this, the sector has long relied on funds from operations and adjusted funds from operations as the primary cash-based profitability measures rather than conventional free cash flow.
Why It Matters Less in Real Estate
Free cash flow tends to be a noisy read of real estate economics because a single large acquisition or development project can swamp the underlying rental cash generation. AFFO, which adjusts for maintenance capital expenditure but excludes growth outlays, typically gives a cleaner measure of distributable cash. That said, tracking how growth capex converts into rental income over time is still a central test of management quality, and free cash flow remains useful as a dividend coverage check over multiple years.
What to Read Alongside
Pair free cash flow with Net Income for the GAAP earnings line after heavy depreciation charges, Share Buybacks for capital return behavior beyond distributions, and Revenue for the scale of the underlying rental base.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | O | Realty Income Corporation | Real Estate | $3.86B | $53.87B |
| 2 | AMT | American Tower Corporation | Real Estate | $3.78B | $87.09B |
| 3 | SPG | Simon Property Group, Inc. | Real Estate | $3.20B | $70.46B |
| 4 | CCI | Crown Castle Inc. | Real Estate | $2.88B | $37.73B |
| 5 | WELL | Welltower Inc. | Real Estate | $1.83B | $172.10B |
| 6 | EXR | Extra Space Storage Inc. | Real Estate | $1.29B | $31.61B |
| 7 | HST | Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. | Real Estate | $1.23B | $17.33B |
| 8 | CBRE | CBRE Group, Inc. | Real Estate | $1.19B | $37.13B |
| 9 | INVH | Invitation Homes Inc. | Real Estate | $1.18B | $15.30B |
| 10 | KIM | Kimco Realty Corporation | Real Estate | $1.10B | $16.29B |
| 11 | SBAC | SBA Communications Corporation | Real Estate | $1.07B | $19.85B |
| 12 | OPEN | Opendoor Technologies Inc. | Real Estate | $1.04B | $1.75B |
| 13 | BXP | BXP, Inc. | Real Estate | $1.03B | $10.03B |
| 14 | AMH | American Homes 4 Rent | Real Estate | $823.68M | $11.37B |
| 15 | OHI | Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. | Real Estate | $797.68M | $14.24B |
| 16 | IHS | IHS Holding Limited | Real Estate | $718.70M | $2.86B |
| 17 | MAA | Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. | Real Estate | $717.94M | $13.60B |
| 18 | LAMR | Lamar Advertising Company | Real Estate | $683.25M | $16.00B |
| 19 | UDR | UDR, Inc. | Real Estate | $650.03M | $11.41B |
| 20 | WY | Weyerhaeuser Company | Real Estate | $511.00M | $14.66B |
| 21 | KRC | Kilroy Realty Corporation | Real Estate | $450.29M | $4.20B |
| 22 | HHH | Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. | Real Estate | $417.61M | $4.55B |
| 23 | SUI | Sun Communities, Inc. | Real Estate | $407.20M | $13.52B |
| 24 | EGP | EastGroup Properties, Inc. | Real Estate | $404.90M | $10.69B |
| 25 | DOC | Healthpeak Properties, Inc. | Real Estate | $357.01M | $13.12B |
| 26 | ELS | Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. | Real Estate | $334.06M | $11.50B |
| 27 | FSV | FirstService Corporation | Real Estate | $318.24M | $6.08B |
| 28 | CWK | Cushman & Wakefield Limited | Real Estate | $293.00M | $3.12B |
| 29 | CDP | COPT Defense Properties | Real Estate | $288.87M | $3.78B |
| 30 | APLE | Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. | Real Estate | $282.02M | $4.37B |
| 31 | KRG | Kite Realty Group Trust | Real Estate | $277.65M | $4.96B |
| 32 | BNL | Broadstone Net Lease, Inc. | Real Estate | $269.79M | $3.28B |
| 33 | EPR | EPR Properties | Real Estate | $269.20M | $4.42B |
| 34 | STAG | STAG Industrial, Inc. | Real Estate | $258.87M | $7.11B |
| 35 | CIGI | Colliers International Group Inc. | Real Estate | $251.44M | $4.94B |
| 36 | RHP | Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. | Real Estate | $232.39M | $9.19B |
| 37 | OUT | OUTFRONT Media Inc. | Real Estate | $218.80M | $5.64B |
| 38 | REXR | Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. | Real Estate | $208.66M | $8.11B |
| 39 | VTMX | Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta, S.A.B. de C.V. | Real Estate | $206.41M | $3.35B |
| 40 | COMP | Compass, Inc. | Real Estate | $203.30M | $6.91B |
| 41 | LINE | Lineage, Inc. | Real Estate | $196.00M | $8.20B |
| 42 | DEI | Douglas Emmett, Inc. | Real Estate | $194.46M | $1.70B |
| 43 | JOE | The St. Joe Company | Real Estate | $186.64M | $3.96B |
| 44 | DRH | DiamondRock Hospitality Company | Real Estate | $162.09M | $2.92B |
| 45 | PEB | Pebblebrook Hotel Trust | Real Estate | $152.33M | $2.41B |
| 46 | NMRK | Newmark Group, Inc. | Real Estate | $142.63M | $2.09B |
| 47 | CUZ | Cousins Properties Incorporated | Real Estate | $135.04M | $4.86B |
| 48 | LTC | LTC Properties, Inc. | Real Estate | $128.71M | $2.41B |
| 49 | GTY | Getty Realty Corp. | Real Estate | $127.02M | $1.88B |
| 50 | ADAM | Adamas Trust, Inc. | Real Estate | $125.89M | $590.59M |
| 51 | CCS | Century Communities, Inc. | Real Estate | $124.31M | $1.49B |
| 52 | CSGP | CoStar Group, Inc. | Real Estate | $123.00M | $12.14B |
| 53 | RLJ | RLJ Lodging Trust | Real Estate | $117.39M | $1.92B |
| 54 | IVT | InvenTrust Properties Corp. | Real Estate | $110.89M | $2.42B |
| 55 | AGNT | AGNT, Inc | Real Estate | $109.04M | $648.42M |
| 56 | PK | Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. | Real Estate | $102.00M | $3.34B |
| 57 | STWD | Starwood Property Trust, Inc. | Real Estate | $99.36M | $4.52B |
| 58 | AAT | American Assets Trust, Inc. | Real Estate | $94.86M | $1.34B |
| 59 | XHR | Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. | Real Estate | $89.91M | $1.89B |
| 60 | UE | Urban Edge Properties | Real Estate | $81.80M | $2.52B |
| 61 | SHO | Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. | Real Estate | $78.71M | $2.38B |
| 62 | LADR | Ladder Capital Corp | Real Estate | $78.68M | $1.15B |
| 63 | INN | Summit Hotel Properties, Inc. | Real Estate | $73.55M | $767.92M |
| 64 | REAX | Real REMAX Group Inc. | Real Estate | $64.83M | $512.25M |
| 65 | CSR | Centerspace | Real Estate | $64.29M | $983.19M |
| 66 | MMI | Marcus & Millichap, Inc. | Real Estate | $58.78M | $1.06B |
| 67 | ESRT | Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. | Real Estate | $50.55M | $860.47M |
| 68 | PSTL | Postal Realty Trust, Inc. | Real Estate | $37.57M | $652.77M |
No companies match this search.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by free cash flow as reported in their most recent annual filing with the SEC. Figures shown are in US dollars (or percent, as noted), rounded to two decimals.
- Source: annual 10-K / 20-F filings from companies trading on US exchanges (NYSE, Nasdaq, AMEX).
- Fiscal year: whichever annual period the company has most recently filed. Fiscal years don't always align with the calendar year, so the "as of FY" stamp above reflects the most common year across the table.
- Filtered out: warrants, preferred shares, and duplicate listings that share a parent company's financials.
- Size floor: A company qualifies at $500 million in market cap or above. Below that, one mis-stated figure outranks the companies the list is about.
- Currency check: A company whose annual revenue runs above 15 times its market cap is left out, because at that gap the two figures are not in the same currency.
- Currency check: A company whose balance sheet runs above 150 times its market cap is left out for the same reason.
- Market cap: stated at each company's latest close, which is newer than the annual figure ranked here.
- Update cadence: refreshed as companies file new annual reports (typically within 60–90 days of fiscal year end).
Not financial advice. This is a research tool, not a recommendation.
Frequently asked questions
Why is FFO preferred over free cash flow for REITs?
GAAP accounting treats real estate depreciation as a large non-cash charge that reduces reported earnings even when property values are stable or rising. FFO adds this depreciation back and adjusts for gains or losses on property sales, producing a cash-based earnings measure that better reflects ongoing rental economics. Free cash flow, by contrast, is distorted by acquisition and development cash outflows that are lumpy and tied more to portfolio strategy than to recurring operating performance, which makes it harder to use for consistent comparison across periods.
How do acquisitions and developments distort REIT free cash flow?
A REIT that closes a large acquisition or advances a major development in a given period will show large cash outflows in investing activities, pulling free cash flow sharply lower. The same firm in a quieter period with only maintenance capex looks very different on the line, even if underlying rental income and property quality are unchanged. Investors typically separate growth investment from recurring operations when judging cash generation, which is exactly what AFFO attempts to capture.