Essex Property Trust (ESS) Competitors

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) and Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, media sentiment and dividends.

Does the media favor AMH or ESS?

In the previous week, American Homes 4 Rent had 3 more articles in the media than Essex Property Trust. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for American Homes 4 Rent and 6 mentions for Essex Property Trust. Essex Property Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.58 beat American Homes 4 Rent's score of 1.49 indicating that Essex Property Trust is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
American Homes 4 Rent	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Essex Property Trust	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Is AMH or ESS a better dividend stock?

American Homes 4 Rent pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Essex Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $10.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. American Homes 4 Rent pays out 111.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Essex Property Trust pays out 98.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. American Homes 4 Rent has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and 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 insiders and institutionals believe in AMH or ESS?

91.9% of American Homes 4 Rent shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.5% of Essex Property Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.3% of American Homes 4 Rent shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Essex Property Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility & risk, AMH or ESS?

American Homes 4 Rent has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Essex Property Trust has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend AMH or ESS?

American Homes 4 Rent presently has a consensus price target of $40.90, suggesting a potential upside of 13.50%. Essex Property Trust has a consensus price target of $310.94, suggesting a potential upside of 8.29%. Given American Homes 4 Rent's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe American Homes 4 Rent is more favorable than Essex Property Trust.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Homes 4 Rent	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.53
Essex Property Trust	1 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.37

Which has higher valuation & earnings, AMH or ESS?

Essex Property Trust has higher revenue and earnings than American Homes 4 Rent. Essex Property Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Homes 4 Rent, 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
American Homes 4 Rent	$1.73B	7.72	$412.43M	$1.08	33.37
Essex Property Trust	$1.77B	10.42	$741.52M	$10.45	27.48

Is AMH or ESS more profitable?

Essex Property Trust has a net margin of 37.08% compared to American Homes 4 Rent's net margin of 23.41%. Essex Property Trust's return on equity of 11.81% beat American Homes 4 Rent's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Homes 4 Rent	23.41%	5.45%	3.21%
Essex Property Trust	37.08%	11.81%	5.24%

Summary

Essex Property Trust beats American Homes 4 Rent on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.