Essex Property Trust (ESS) Competitors $273.68 -4.15 (-1.49%) Closing price 05/22/2025 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$273.66 -0.02 (-0.01%) As of 05/22/2025 05:19 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrendsBuy This Stock ESS vs. AVB, EQR, MAA, SUI, UDR, CPT, ELS, UMH, AIV, and SPGShould you be buying Essex Property Trust stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Essex Property Trust include AvalonBay Communities (AVB), Equity Residential (EQR), Mid-America Apartment Communities (MAA), Sun Communities (SUI), UDR (UDR), Camden Property Trust (CPT), Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS), UMH Properties (UMH), Apartment Investment and Management (AIV), and Simon Property Group (SPG). These companies are all part of the "real estate investment trusts" industry. Essex Property Trust vs. AvalonBay Communities Equity Residential Mid-America Apartment Communities Sun Communities UDR Camden Property Trust Equity LifeStyle Properties UMH Properties Apartment Investment and Management Simon Property Group Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) and AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, community ranking, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, dividends, profitability and risk. Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ESS or AVB? Essex Property Trust received 55 more outperform votes than AvalonBay Communities when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 59.93% of users gave AvalonBay Communities an outperform vote while only 56.19% of users gave Essex Property Trust an outperform vote. CompanyUnderperformOutperformEssex Property TrustOutperform Votes73156.19% Underperform Votes57043.81% AvalonBay CommunitiesOutperform Votes67659.93% Underperform Votes45240.07% Do insiders and institutionals 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. Do analysts rate ESS or AVB? Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus target price of $312.17, indicating a potential upside of 14.06%. AvalonBay Communities has a consensus target price of $239.93, indicating a potential upside of 20.12%. 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) 11 Hold rating(s) 7 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.32AvalonBay 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 Trust41.79% 13.05% 5.82% AvalonBay Communities 37.13%9.15%5.15% Does the media favor ESS or AVB? In the previous week, AvalonBay Communities had 1 more articles in the media than Essex Property Trust. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for AvalonBay Communities and 19 mentions for Essex Property Trust. Essex Property Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.50 beat AvalonBay Communities' score of 1.35 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 18 Very Positive mention(s) 0 Positive mention(s) 0 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive AvalonBay Communities 15 Very Positive mention(s) 0 Positive mention(s) 2 Neutral mention(s) 1 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Which has more volatility and risk, ESS or AVB? Essex Property Trust has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AvalonBay Communities has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. 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 3.8%. AvalonBay Communities pays an annual dividend of $7.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. 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. AvalonBay Communities pays out 87.2% 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 and AvalonBay Communities has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Essex Property Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth. Which has better valuation and earnings, ESS or AVB? AvalonBay Communities has higher revenue and earnings than Essex Property Trust. AvalonBay Communities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Essex Property Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioEssex Property Trust$1.81B9.72$741.52M$10.4526.19AvalonBay Communities$2.95B9.65$1.08B$8.0324.88 SummaryEssex Property Trust beats AvalonBay Communities on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Essex Property Trust News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for ESS and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding {thisCompany.Symbol} and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart ESS vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricEssex Property TrustReal estate investment trusts IndustryFinance SectorNYSE ExchangeMarket Cap$17.62B$6.84B$11.47B$19.30BDividend Yield3.60%6.71%5.45%3.83%P/E Ratio23.7260.0922.4234.53Price / Sales9.728.3127.6234.83Price / Cash14.3117.3217.6217.51Price / Book3.071.642.774.69Net Income$741.52M$177.71M$1.03B$1.02B7 Day Performance-5.17%-3.35%-1.34%-2.43%1 Month Performance-1.45%1.08%5.24%6.27%1 Year Performance6.09%2.86%538.04%5.78% Essex Property Trust Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)ESSEssex Property Trust4.2246 of 5 stars$273.68-1.5%$312.17+14.1%+4.1%$17.62B$1.81B23.721,770Positive NewsAnalyst RevisionAVBAvalonBay Communities4.1646 of 5 stars$208.58+1.5%$239.57+14.9%+1.1%$29.70B$2.95B27.482,950Positive NewsDividend AnnouncementAnalyst RevisionEQREquity Residential4.4259 of 5 stars$70.82+1.3%$79.12+11.7%+3.0%$26.91B$3.01B26.042,400Positive NewsAnalyst RevisionMAAMid-America Apartment Communities4.0748 of 5 stars$163.61+0.4%$169.55+3.6%+13.5%$19.15B$2.20B36.522,390Dividend AnnouncementAnalyst ForecastSUISun Communities4.3448 of 5 stars$125.12-0.3%$138.70+10.9%-2.8%$15.96B$3.20B67.277,590Positive NewsAnalyst ForecastUDRUDR4.1605 of 5 stars$42.58+0.7%$46.29+8.7%+1.1%$14.10B$1.68B170.301,330Positive NewsAnalyst RevisionCPTCamden Property Trust4.1912 of 5 stars$118.88+0.8%$128.55+8.1%+8.5%$12.70B$1.55B79.251,650Positive NewsELSEquity LifeStyle Properties4.0937 of 5 stars$63.64-1.1%$74.33+16.8%-1.1%$12.17B$1.43B32.644,100Positive NewsUMHUMH Properties4.4998 of 5 stars$17.17-0.6%$21.00+22.3%+5.6%$1.44B$244.10M132.12460Analyst DowngradeAIVApartment Investment and Management0.6264 of 5 stars$8.06+2.4%N/A-4.9%$1.14B$210.83M-4.6660Positive NewsAnalyst UpgradeSPGSimon Property Group4.3044 of 5 stars$171.81+5.3%$178.39+3.8%+8.0%$56.06B$5.96B23.673,300Positive NewsAnalyst ForecastGap Up Related Companies and Tools Related Companies AvalonBay Communities Alternatives Equity Residential Alternatives Mid-America Apartment Communities Alternatives Sun Communities Alternatives UDR Alternatives Camden Property Trust Alternatives Equity LifeStyle Properties Alternatives UMH Properties Alternatives Apartment Investment and Management Alternatives Simon Property Group Alternatives Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NYSE:ESS) was last updated on 5/23/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersMarket Panic: Trump Just Dropped a Bomb on Your Stockstock Market Panic: Trump Just Dropped a Bomb on Your Stocks The market is in freefall—and Trump's new tarif...American Alternative | SponsoredWhite House to reset Social Security?Elon Musk's parting DOGE gift looks set to shock America... A single announcement by July 22nd could soon b...Altimetry | SponsoredBuffett’s favorite chart just hit 209% – here’s what that means for goldA Historic Gold Announcement Is About to Rock Wall Street For months, sharp-eyed analysts have watched the ...Golden Portfolio | SponsoredEveryone’s watching Nvidia right now. Here’s why I’m excited.So, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably saw the news… Nvidia just signed a $7 BILLION deal...Timothy Sykes | SponsoredIs President Trump Lying To You With This?President Trump’s economic transition isn’t without hardship. But what if there were a smart, tax-free way to ...Colonial Metals | SponsoredJuly 2025 Rule Change to Impact Retirement InvestorsThere's a massive change from a new rule going into effect this July. And it's one the Big Banks are alread...Premier Gold Co | SponsoredTrump’s Bitcoin Reserve is No Accident…Bitcoin's supply is being drained at unprecedented rates, but while most investors focus solely on Bitcoin, th...Crypto 101 Media | SponsoredSilver Is the New Oil—And the World’s Running DryElon's Next Market Move Could Send Silver Soaring Every industry Elon Musk touches explodes—from Tesla to S...Priority Gold | Sponsored Adding Choose a watchlist: Watchlist Adding You have already added five stocks to your watchlist. Upgrade to MarketBeat All Access to add more stocks to your watchlist. Adding Essex Property Trust, Inc. Please log in to your account or sign up in order to add this asset to your watchlist. Share Essex Property Trust With A Colleague Link copied to clipboard. Get 30 Days of MarketBeat All Access for Free Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools. Start Your 30-Day Trial MarketBeat All Access Features Best-in-Class Portfolio Monitoring Get personalized stock ideas. Compare portfolio to indices. Check stock news, ratings, SEC filings, and more. Stock Ideas and Recommendations See daily stock ideas from top analysts. Receive short-term trading ideas from MarketBeat. Identify trending stocks on social media. Advanced Stock Screeners and Research Tools Use our seven stock screeners to find suitable stocks. Stay informed with MarketBeat's real-time news. Export data to Excel for personal analysis. Sign in to your free account to enjoy these benefits In-depth profiles and analysis for 20,000 public companies. Real-time analyst ratings, insider transactions, earnings data, and more. Our daily ratings and market update email newsletter. Sign in to your free account to enjoy all that MarketBeat has to offer. Sign In Create Account Your Email Address: Email Address Required Your Password: Password Required Log In or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google Forgot your password? Your Email Address: Please enter your email address. Please enter a valid email address Choose a Password: Please enter your password. Your password must be at least 8 characters long and contain at least 1 number, 1 letter, and 1 special character. Create My Account (Free) or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google By creating a free account, you agree to our terms of service. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.