American Campus Communities Inc's Competitiveness
A competitive positioning analysis and financial ratio benchmarking of American Campus Communities Inc (ACC) against its publicly traded competitors: sales growth, net income, profitability, valuation and market share, plus each peer's market capitalization, revenue, income and employees. Free below: the top 5 peers. Subscriber access adds the full competitor list and CSV downloads.
Key Findings: American Campus Communities Inc vs Its Competitors
- TTM: Trailing 12-month revenue of 983M vs 3,552M combined for its competitors (21.7% combined share).
- Trending: Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is accelerating (+11.3% annualized vs trailing 12 months), vs decelerating (-4.7%) for its tracked peer group.
- Growth: American Campus Communities Inc generated 17.6% revenue growth year over year in Q1 2022, vs 15.6% for its competitors combined.
- Profitability: Its 15.6% net margin compares with 54.1% for the peer group.
- Peer revenue share: American Campus Communities Inc accounted for 24.4% of combined revenue among its tracked peer group, up from 24.1% a year earlier.
- Peer differentiation: Revenue per employee of $1.09M compares with $0.72M for the peer group (1.5x).
- Structure: American Campus Communities Inc operates in the following segments: Owned Properties, On Campus Participating Properties, Development Services, Property Management Services, Corporate and Unallocated.
Every figure above is sourced and cited in detail further down this page (Market Structure, Profitability & Cost Structure, Productivity vs Peers).
ACC Sales vs. its Competitors, Q1 2022
American Campus Communities Inc reported revenue growth of 17.63 % year on year in Q1 2022, above its competitors' combined revenue growth of 15.64 %.
With a net margin of 15.61 %, American Campus Communities Inc reported lower profitability than its competitors (54.06 %).
American Campus Communities Inc generated 24.43 % of the combined sales of its peer group, up from 24.12 % a year earlier.
API endpoints for this dataset
American Campus Communities Inc vs. its Competitors, Q1 2022
Revenue growth, year on year
Net income growth, year on year
Net margin
Revenue run-rate vs trailing 12 months
TTM net margin
TTM = trailing twelve months. Run-rate annualizes the latest quarter (×4) and compares it to TTM. In millions of $. High-Confidence Competitors are named as a competitor directly in American Campus Communities Inc reports; Similar-Size Competitors are the closest peers by market-cap rank within the same industry; Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors are the closest peers by combined revenue growth, operating margin and ROIC, all independent of the competitor list.
TTM revenue, latest-quarter run-rate and net income/margin benchmarked across American Campus Communities Inc and its 4 competitor groupings. Available under Commercial License.
| Entity | TTM Revenue | Rev Run-rate vs TTM |
|---|---|---|
| American Campus Communities Inc | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| Competitors combined | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| Similar Growth & Profitability (6) | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
TTM revenue, run-rate and net margin benchmarking across American Campus Communities Inc's competitor groups requires a Commercial License.
For context: the Real Estate Investment Trusts industry grew revenue -1.0% year over year, combined, vs 17.6% for American Campus Communities Inc. American Campus Communities Inc's share of combined industry revenue moved from 0.31% to 0.37%, a gain of 0.06 percentage points.
American Campus Communities Inc's Competitor Quality Breadth
Group definitions: see Methodology: Performance Group Definitions.
| Entity | Profitable | Expanding | Above Industry Growth | Distressed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Campus Communities Inc | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Competitors combined (5) | ||||
| Similar Growth & Profitability (8) | 87.50 % (7 of 8) | 100.00 % (8 of 8) | 100.00 % (8 of 8) | 0.00 % (0 of 8) |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Altman Z-Score is not shown here: it is not populated in the underlying data for any company. Percentages are of companies in each group that report the relevant metric, not of the full group size.
ACC Stock Performance relative to its Competitors
ACC Stock Performance relative to Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors
5 Best-Performing Tracked Competitors, Trailing 12 Months
| # | Competitor | TTM Share Price Return | vs U.S.A. 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peakstone Realty Trust | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 2 | Willscot Holdings Corporation | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 3 | Apartment Investment And Management Company | 282.9% | Outperformed |
TTM share price return and U.S.A. 500 outperformance for American Campus Communities Inc's best-performing competitors requires a Commercial License.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months.
Publicly Traded Peers of American Campus Communities Inc
Revenue and income for trailing 12 months, in millions of $, except employees| Company | Market Cap | Revenues |
|---|---|---|
 American Campus Communities Inc |
9,193.90 | 983.43 |
 Apartment Income Reit Corp |
5,649.01 | 803.67 |
 Willscot Holdings Corporation |
3,428.91 | 2,293.59 |
 Peakstone Realty Trust |
780.45 | 131.48 |
 Apartment Investment And Management Company |
212.20 | 116.93 |
 Elme Communities |
4.44 | 206.36 |
| SUBTOTAL | 19,268.92 | 4,535.46 |
Sources: see Methodology: Peer & Competitor Identification, Sourcing.
Updated on:
Focus of this report: publicly traded companies. Ten additional tables on American Campus Communities Inc versus competitors, including market share analysis, are in the navigation menu under Competition. To download the tables, please subscribe.
American Campus Communities Inc's Competitors Named by the Company
Competitive relationships identified from American Campus Communities Inc reports and corroborating sources, each with a basis and confidence.| Competitor | Basis | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Elme Communities | Company report | 85% |
| Apartment Investment And Management Company | Company report | 85% |
Company report basis, confidence, active dates and source counts for American Campus Communities Inc's named competitors require a Commercial License.
Methodology: see Methodology: Peer & Competitor Identification, Sourcing.
American Campus Communities Inc's Business Segment Mix vs Peers
Revenue by operating segment or division, as named and reported by each company. Segment names are the filer's own and are not standardized across companies. Do not assume a same-named or similarly-named segment is defined identically between two companies. Shares are of each company's own total revenue and are not required to sum to 100% (intersegment revenue, unallocated items).| Company | Largest Segment |
|---|---|
| American Campus Communities Inc | Owned Properties 92.59 % |
| Willscot Holdings Corporation | Reportable 100.00 % |
| Peakstone Realty Trust | Industrial 100.00 % |
| Apartment Investment And Management Company | Redevelopmentand Development 46.08 % |
| Elme Communities | Residential 92.89 % |
Source: operating segment revenue as reported in each company's reports (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API, leaf-level reportable segments only (parent roll-up segments are excluded where sub-segments are separately disclosed).
American Campus Communities Inc's Productivity vs Peers Comparison
Revenue and income per employee, trailing 12 months, in $; market cap in millions of $| Company | Market Cap | Revenue / Employee | Income / Employee |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Campus Communities Inc | 9,194 | 1,092,703 | 73,513 |
| Apartment Income Reit Corp | 5,649 | 13,856,293 | 11,982,017 |
| Willscot Holdings Corporation | 3,429 | 487,998 | -14,657 |
| Peakstone Realty Trust | 780 | 3,286,950 | -7,450,225 |
| Apartment Investment And Management Company | 212 | 2,016,052 | 4,636,207 |
| Elme Communities | 4 | 2,267,692 | -1,694,088 |
| PEERS TOTAL | 10,075 | 718,016 | 89,508 |
American Campus Communities Inc's Geographic Revenue Exposure vs Peers
Revenue by country/region as reported in each company's most recent report. Disclosure granularity varies by filer (some report by country, others by broad region) and is shown as disclosed.| Company | Largest Market |
|---|---|
| Willscot Holdings Corporation | United States 93.81 % |
Source: revenue geography as reported in each company's reports (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API. Percentages are of that company's own total consolidated revenue for its most recent reported period.
American Campus Communities Inc's Profitability & Cost Structure
Trailing 12-month margins from SEC-filed financials. Operating margin is compared to the Real Estate Investment Trusts industry median; gross margin, EBITDA margin and capital intensity are compared to the live industry average (283 companies). See the full Real Estate Investment Trusts industry profitability benchmarks.| Metric | Company | Industry | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Margin | 0.00 % | 42.02 % (avg) | -42.0 pp |
| Operating Margin | 18.73 % | industry median | -11.1 pp |
| EBITDA Margin | 41.57 % | 38.49 % (avg) | +3.1 pp |
| Capital Intensity (Capex / Revenue) | 7.11 % | 28.31 % (avg) | -21.2 pp |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. SG&A and R&D as a share of revenue have limited coverage as this data is backfilled and appear only where reported. Higher capital intensity is not inherently negative; it reflects the industry's asset requirements.
American Campus Communities Inc's Valuation vs Competitive Position
Valuation multiples vs the Real Estate Investment Trusts industry average (283 companies, excluding loss-making/negative-equity outliers), alongside returns on capital for context on whether a premium or discount lines up with measurably stronger or weaker returns. See the full Real Estate Investment Trusts industry valuation benchmarks.| Metric | Company | Industry Average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 137.3x | 30.7x | +106.6x |
| EV / EBITDA | 19.6x | 17.6x | +2.0x |
| P/B | 2.4x | 1.9x | +0.5x |
| Return on Equity | 2.10 % | industry aggregate | -5.58 % |
| Return on Invested Capital | 1.82 % | 2.23 % (avg) | -0.41 % |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. A valuation premium or discount is not, by itself, a judgment of over- or under-valuation. Compare it against the return and growth context shown elsewhere on this page.
American Campus Communities Inc's Multi-Year Financial Trajectory
Fiscal-year revenue growth, operating margin, return on invested capital and P/E, as reported in company reports.| Metric | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue Growth | 11.63 % | 2.65 % | 4.38 % | 1.28 % | 10.59 % | 7.07 % | -7.68 % | 8.25 % |
| Operating Margin | 21.12 % | 20.83 % | 22.02 % | 17.90 % | 24.14 % | 19.08 % | 21.52 % | 16.61 % |
| Return on Invested Capital | 1.39 % | 1.33 % | 1.39 % | 1.03 % | 1.51 % | 1.30 % | 1.39 % | 1.55 % |
| P/E | - | 40.6x | 64.2x | 84.1x | 50.8x | 81.1x | 78.2x | 232.0x |
Source: CSIMarket API, fiscal-year figures. P/E is this company's own historical ratio at each fiscal year end and can swing sharply around an earnings trough: that is real, not a data error.
American Campus Communities Inc's Strategic Group Map
American Campus Communities Inc is shown in red; its closest peers by combined growth, margin and ROIC are labeled. See Methodology: Strategic Group Map for how this chart is built.
American Campus Communities Inc's trailing-12-month revenue growth of 15.2% and operating margin of 18.7% compares with an average of 13.8% growth and 17.7% margin across its 8 closest peers by combined growth, margin and ROIC -- American Campus Communities Inc sits above that peer average on growth and above it on margin.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Extreme outlier values (from near-zero-revenue companies) are excluded from the plotted cloud but never from the highlighted company or its labeled peers.
American Campus Communities Inc's Competitive Forces (Porter's Five Forces)
Only the forces this data can support honestly are shown; the other three are marked as such rather than guessed.| Force | Assessment | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Barriers to Entry | Lower than typical for the industry | Capital intensity (capex / revenue) of 7.11 % vs industry average 28.31 % (see Profitability & Cost Structure above) |
Note: see Methodology: Porter's Five Forces. Supplier power and buyer power are covered on American Campus Communities Inc's dedicated Suppliers and Customers pages, not here.
American Campus Communities Inc's Industry Attractiveness & Competitive Strength
See Methodology: GE/McKinsey Matrix for how the two axes are built.
American Campus Communities Inc falls in the Medium attractiveness / High strength cell: Invest / Grow.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Each axis score is a simple 1(low)/2(medium)/3(high) average across its three inputs -- a transparent, disclosed simplification, not a validated academic scoring model.
American Campus Communities Inc's SWOT
Every point below is a fixed rule applied to a metric already shown elsewhere on this page (Market Structure, Profitability, Valuation, Run-Rate, Stock Performance, Quality Breadth) not an independent strategic assessment. A blank quadrant means no rule was met, not that none apply.Strengths
- Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is accelerating (+11.3% annualized vs trailing 12 months).
Weaknesses
- Operating margin 11.1 points below the industry median.
- Return on equity 5.6 points below the industry aggregate.
Opportunities
No rule matched.
Threats
- Tracked peer group's revenue run-rate is broadly decelerating (-4.7% annualized).
Methodology: see Methodology: SWOT Analysis.
American Campus Communities Inc's Financial Strength vs Peers Comparison
Quick ratio, working capital, debt to equity and asset turnover, trailing 12 months| Company | Quick Ratio | Working Capital | Debt / Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Campus Communities Inc | 0.12 | 0.94 | 0.18 |
| Apartment Income Reit Corp | 0.17 | 1.58 | 1.35 |
| Willscot Holdings Corporation | 0.02 | 0.81 | 4.79 |
| Peakstone Realty Trust | 3.39 | 5.31 | 0.40 |
| Apartment Investment And Management Company | 2.55 | 3.90 | 2.67 |
| Elme Communities | 0.17 | 0.51 | 0.18 |
Quick ratio = cash / current liabilities; working capital ratio = current assets / current liabilities; asset turnover = revenue / total assets. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
American Campus Communities Inc's Revenue and Income Growth vs Peers
Quarterly revenue and net income growth, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Revenue Y/Y | Income Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Campus Communities Inc | Q1 2022 | +17.6 % | +167.3 % |
| Apartment Income Reit Corp | Q1 2024 | -7.7 % | - |
| Willscot Holdings Corporation | Q2 2026 | +3.9 % | -2.0 % |
| Peakstone Realty Trust | Q1 2026 | -10.6 % | - |
| Apartment Investment And Management Company | Q1 2026 | +0.0 % | - |
| Elme Communities | Q4 2025 | -66.3 % | - |
| PEERS TOTAL | +0.4 % | - |
Growth is shown only where both periods are positive. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
American Campus Communities Inc's Peers' Costs of Sales and Capital Expenditures
Context for revenue growth: peer costs and capex, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Costs Y/Y | Capex Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Campus Communities Inc | Q1 2022 | - | +9.9 % |
| Apartment Income Reit Corp | Q1 2024 | - | -48.7 % |
| Willscot Holdings Corporation | Q2 2026 | -60.6 % | +38.5 % |
| Peakstone Realty Trust | Q1 2026 | - | +6,467.6 % |
| Apartment Investment And Management Company | Q1 2026 | - | +0.0 % |
| Elme Communities | Q4 2025 | - | -72.7 % |
American Campus Communities Inc's Returns and Turnover vs Peers
ROA, ROI and ROE (trailing 12 months), receivables and inventory turnover| Company | ROA | ROI | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Campus Communities Inc | 0.88% | 0.95% | 2.10% |
| Apartment Income Reit Corp | 11.06% | 9.16% | 28.08% |
| Willscot Holdings Corporation | - | - | - |
| Peakstone Realty Trust | - | - | - |
| Apartment Investment And Management Company | 15.24% | 14.23% | 80.24% |
| Elme Communities | - | - | - |
ROA = net income / total assets; ROI = net income / investments; ROE = net income / equity; turnover ratios use trailing 12 month revenue (receivables) and cost of sales (inventory).
American Campus Communities Inc's Valuation vs Peers
P/E, price to sales, PEG, price to cash flow and price to book| Company | P/E | Price / Sales |
|---|---|---|
| American Campus Communities Inc | 167.74 | 9.35 |
| Apartment Income Reit Corp | 9.11 | 7.03 |
| Willscot Holdings Corporation | - | 1.49 |
| Peakstone Realty Trust | - | 5.94 |
| Apartment Investment And Management Company | 0.89 | 1.81 |
| Elme Communities | - | 0.02 |
| PEERS AVERAGE | 37.86 | 4.25 |
P/E = price / diluted EPS (trailing 12 months); PEG = P/E divided by EPS growth; the average row divides the peers' combined market cap by their combined income, sales, cash flow and equity.