EQR vs SUNB Comparison

Equity Residential owns a portfolio of 312 apartment communities with over 85,000 units and is developing two additional properties with 665 units. The company focuses on owning large, high-quality properties in the urban and suburban submarkets of Southern California, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York, Seattle, and Boston.

Sunbelt Rentals (formerly UK-based Ashtead Group) is the number two equipment rental company in the US (11% market share), with a smaller presence in Canada and the UK. Sunbelt operates a rental fleet of just over $15 billion across a network of 1,200 stores in the US, nearly CAD 2 billion of fleet and 135 stores in Canada, and GBP 1.1 billion and 190 stores in the UK. The company has experienced rapid growth over the past decade as its customers increasingly turn to rental versus owning equipment outright. The general tool business has been augmented by the Specialty Rental business, which has grown to 30% of the mix. Revenue is now greater than 50% nonconstruction, with the remainder focused more directly on commercial construction.