Essex Property Trust (ESS) Competitors

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) and AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, community ranking, valuation, dividends and media sentiment.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, ESS or AVB?

AvalonBay Communities has higher revenue and earnings than Essex Property Trust. Essex Property Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AvalonBay Communities, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Essex Property Trust	$1.77B	10.30	$741.52M	$11.54	24.63
AvalonBay Communities	$2.91B	10.21	$1.08B	$7.59	27.54

Does the media favor ESS or AVB?

In the previous week, Essex Property Trust had 5 more articles in the media than AvalonBay Communities. MarketBeat recorded 30 mentions for Essex Property Trust and 25 mentions for AvalonBay Communities. Essex Property Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.65 beat AvalonBay Communities' score of 1.22 indicating that Essex Property Trust is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Essex Property Trust	25 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
AvalonBay Communities	16 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in ESS or AVB?

96.5% of Essex Property Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.6% of AvalonBay Communities shares are held by institutional investors. 3.5% of Essex Property Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of AvalonBay Communities shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, ESS or AVB?

Essex Property Trust has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AvalonBay Communities has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ESS or AVB?

Essex Property Trust received 55 more outperform votes than AvalonBay Communities when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 60.11% of users gave AvalonBay Communities an outperform vote while only 56.20% of users gave Essex Property Trust an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Essex Property Trust	Outperform Votes 730 56.20%	Underperform Votes 569 43.80%
AvalonBay Communities	Outperform Votes 675 60.11%	Underperform Votes 448 39.89%

Is ESS or AVB a better dividend stock?

Essex Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $10.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. AvalonBay Communities pays an annual dividend of $7.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Essex Property Trust pays out 89.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. AvalonBay Communities pays out 92.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Essex Property Trust has increased its dividend for 31 consecutive years. Essex Property Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts rate ESS or AVB?

Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus price target of $306.79, indicating a potential upside of 7.93%. AvalonBay Communities has a consensus price target of $239.29, indicating a potential upside of 14.47%. Given AvalonBay Communities' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe AvalonBay Communities is more favorable than Essex Property Trust.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essex Property Trust	1 Sell rating(s)	12 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.30
AvalonBay Communities	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.47

Is ESS or AVB more profitable?

Essex Property Trust has a net margin of 41.79% compared to AvalonBay Communities' net margin of 37.13%. Essex Property Trust's return on equity of 13.05% beat AvalonBay Communities' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essex Property Trust	41.79%	13.05%	5.82%
AvalonBay Communities	37.13%	9.15%	5.15%

Summary

Essex Property Trust beats AvalonBay Communities on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.