Top Real Estate Stocks by Return on Equity
Top real estate companies ranked by return on equity, latest annual filings.
What Return on Equity Means for Real Estate Companies
Return on Equity divides net income by shareholder equity. In real estate, the GAAP ratio is often depressed because property depreciation under accounting rules understates the economic life of real assets. Real estate investors typically evaluate REITs through funds from operations and adjusted funds from operations instead, which add back non-cash depreciation to produce a figure closer to economic earnings on the property portfolio.
Why It Matters Less in Real Estate
GAAP Return on Equity understates real estate economics because depreciation is a significant non-cash charge that does not reflect actual building wear in most property types. An AFFO-based return on equity often tells a very different, and more useful, story. For this sector the headline ratio is best read alongside recurring cash distribution history and portfolio occupancy trends rather than in isolation, where it understates operational performance.
What to Read Alongside
Pair Return on Equity with Net Income to see reported GAAP earnings, Long-term Debt to frame portfolio leverage, and Free Cash Flow for a cleaner view of cash-based returns on the underlying properties.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UNIT | Uniti Group Inc. | Real Estate | 343.07% | $2.32B |
| 2 | SPG | Simon Property Group, Inc. | Real Estate | 102.99% | $66.64B |
| 3 | AMT | American Tower Corporation | Real Estate | 71.96% | $81.66B |
| 4 | LAMR | Lamar Advertising Company | Real Estate | 57.30% | $14.74B |
| 5 | RHP | Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. | Real Estate | 32.45% | $8.39B |
| 6 | ELS | Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. | Real Estate | 22.89% | $11.69B |
| 7 | OUT | OUTFRONT Media Inc. | Real Estate | 20.69% | $4.97B |
| 8 | SUI | Sun Communities, Inc. | Real Estate | 20.33% | $13.86B |
| 9 | PSA | Public Storage | Real Estate | 19.29% | $54.13B |
| 10 | VNO | Vornado Realty Trust | Real Estate | 15.65% | $6.59B |
| 11 | CIGI | Colliers International Group Inc. | Real Estate | 14.64% | $4.72B |
| 12 | FSV | FirstService Corporation | Real Estate | 13.86% | $5.82B |
| 13 | CBRE | CBRE Group, Inc. | Real Estate | 13.03% | $40.84B |
| 14 | BRX | Brixmor Property Group Inc. | Real Estate | 12.83% | $8.58B |
| 15 | ESS | Essex Property Trust, Inc. | Real Estate | 12.68% | $17.66B |
| 16 | FRT | Federal Realty Investment Trust | Real Estate | 12.65% | $9.60B |
| 17 | CUBE | CubeSmart | Real Estate | 12.18% | $8.68B |
| 18 | HST | Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. | Real Estate | 11.67% | $15.26B |
| 19 | UDR | UDR, Inc. | Real Estate | 11.49% | $10.96B |
| 20 | JLL | Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated | Real Estate | 10.56% | $15.43B |
| 21 | VICI | VICI Properties Inc. | Real Estate | 9.98% | $26.40B |
| 22 | EQIX | Equinix, Inc. | Real Estate | 9.54% | $104.52B |
| 23 | FOR | Forestar Group Inc. | Real Estate | 9.50% | $1.39B |
| 24 | AVB | AvalonBay Communities Inc | Real Estate | 9.10% | $26.28B |
| 25 | NMRK | Newmark Group, Inc. | Real Estate | 8.63% | $2.53B |
| 26 | DOUG | Douglas Elliman Inc. | Real Estate | 8.27% | $0.14B |
| 27 | MAA | Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. | Real Estate | 7.89% | $13.82B |
| 28 | REG | Regency Centers Corporation | Real Estate | 7.64% | $13.46B |
| 29 | EXR | Extra Space Storage Inc. | Real Estate | 7.25% | $28.52B |
| 30 | DRH | DiamondRock Hospitality Company | Real Estate | 7.01% | $2.52B |
| 31 | RITM | Rithm Capital Corp. | Real Estate | 6.73% | $5.38B |
| 32 | PLD | Prologis, Inc. | Real Estate | 6.26% | $129.13B |
| 33 | INVH | Invitation Homes Inc. | Real Estate | 6.17% | $16.03B |
| 34 | STWD | Starwood Property Trust, Inc. | Real Estate | 6.06% | $5.59B |
| 35 | WPC | W. P. Carey Inc. | Real Estate | 5.74% | $15.24B |
| 36 | DLR | Digital Realty Trust, Inc. | Real Estate | 5.73% | $68.88B |
| 37 | CCS | Century Communities, Inc. | Real Estate | 5.69% | $1.82B |
| 38 | APLE | Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. | Real Estate | 5.57% | $3.73B |
| 39 | XHR | Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. | Real Estate | 5.56% | $1.65B |
| 40 | BXP | BXP, Inc. | Real Estate | 5.38% | $10.27B |
| 41 | KIM | Kimco Realty Corporation | Real Estate | 5.33% | $15.13B |
| 42 | BEKE | KE Holdings Inc. | Real Estate | 4.51% | $18.03B |
| 43 | CWK | Cushman & Wakefield Limited | Real Estate | 4.51% | $3.02B |
| 44 | WY | Weyerhaeuser Company | Real Estate | 3.44% | $15.52B |
| 45 | HHH | Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. | Real Estate | 3.28% | $3.95B |
| 46 | O | Realty Income Corporation | Real Estate | 2.68% | $53.49B |
| 47 | REXR | Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. | Real Estate | 2.60% | $8.52B |
| 48 | WELL | Welltower Inc. | Real Estate | 2.22% | $166.01B |
| 49 | AHR | American Healthcare REIT, Inc. | Real Estate | 2.13% | $11.27B |
| 50 | VTR | Ventas, Inc. | Real Estate | 2.09% | $44.55B |
| 51 | RLJ | RLJ Lodging Trust | Real Estate | 1.31% | $1.68B |
| 52 | PCH | PotlatchDeltic Corporation | Real Estate | 1.07% | $3.23B |
| 53 | DOC | Healthpeak Properties, Inc. | Real Estate | 0.95% | $14.20B |
| 54 | DEI | Douglas Emmett, Inc. | Real Estate | 0.85% | $1.74B |
| 55 | CSGP | CoStar Group, Inc. | Real Estate | 0.08% | $11.66B |
| 56 | OHI | Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. | Real Estate | 0.01% | $14.08B |
No companies match this search.
Companies with return on equity above 500%, or shareholder equity below 1% of total assets, are excluded: when equity is near zero the ratio becomes unstable and unrepresentative. Ratio rankings also require at least $1B in annual revenue.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by return on equity 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 $1 billion in annual revenue or above, so a small filer with a freak ratio cannot top the list.
- Value range: Only figures above 0% and up to 500% qualify.
- 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.