Elme Communities is committed to elevating what home can be for middle-income renters by providing a higher level of quality, service, and experience. The Company is a multifamily real estate investment trust that owns and operates approximately 9,400 apartment homes in the Washington, DC metro and the Atlanta metro regions, and owns approximately 300,000 square feet of commercial space.
Full ELME analysis →
Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Dividend Well-Covered by AFFODividend coverage is healthy (score 0.71).
Elme Communities ranks #13 of 21
scored companies in REIT - Residential by moat score — the top 62%.
The widest moat in the group is Millrose Properties, Inc. (MRP)
at 97/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near ELME in REIT - Residential
For a REIT, pricing power is the ability to raise rents at renewal and still keep the space occupied.
AFFO Strength
Score 51
· 18% of the moat score
AFFO — adjusted funds from operations — is the cash a REIT can actually distribute after the recurring capital spending buildings need in order to stay leasable.
Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital
Score 8
· 20% of the moat score
Real estate is bought with borrowed money, so a REIT's cost of capital is its competitive advantage.
Capital Recycling & Growth
Score 70
· 16% of the moat score
REITs grow by issuing shares and debt to buy more property, which creates value only when the yield on the asset exceeds the cost of the capital raised.
Operational Efficiency
Score 25
· 14% of the moat score
Running property — leasing, maintenance, taxes, management — is the part of the business a REIT genuinely controls.
Portfolio Quality & Diversification
Score 67
· 12% of the moat score
Portfolio quality is really a question about what happens when a tenant fails.
Elme Communities (ELME) scores 40 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #13 of 21 scored companies in REIT - Residential, the top 62%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 24 companies in REIT - Residential. Its strongest defense is Capital Recycling & Growth (70/100) and its weakest is Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital (8/100).
How does Elme Communities compare with other REIT - Residential companies?
Elme Communities ranks #13 of 21 scored companies in REIT - Residential by moat score. The widest moat in REIT - Residential is Millrose Properties, Inc. (MRP) at 97/100. The companies ranked closest are Sun Communities, Inc. (SUI) at 47 just above it and Veris Residential, Inc. (VRE) at 39 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — REIT Specialized in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 24 companies in REIT - Residential. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is Elme Communities scored with the REIT Specialized template?
A REIT is a portfolio of buildings financed with debt and required to distribute most of its taxable income. Reported earnings are dominated by depreciation on assets that often appreciate, so net income says very little; the real question is how much cash the properties distribute, and how securely. The REIT template scores what determines that: rent pricing, distributable cash, cost of capital, and the discipline behind growth.
Which competitive defenses are measured for Elme Communities?
The REIT Specialized template measures 6 defenses, and ELME scores: Rent Pricing Power (25), AFFO Strength (51), Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital (8), Capital Recycling & Growth (70), Operational Efficiency (25), Portfolio Quality & Diversification (67). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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