Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) versus Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT) Head to Head Review

Camden Property Trust (NYSE:CPT) and Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Camden Property Trust and Essex Property Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Camden Property Trust	$1.57 billion	6.98	$384.46 million	$3.58	30.49
Essex Property Trust	$1.89 billion	9.33	$669.67 million	$8.90	30.80

Essex Property Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Camden Property Trust. Camden Property Trust 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.

Dividends

Camden Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $4.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Essex Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $10.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Camden Property Trust pays out 118.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Essex Property Trust pays out 116.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Camden Property Trust has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Essex Property Trust has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years.

Risk & Volatility

Camden Property Trust has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Essex Property Trust has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Camden Property Trust and Essex Property Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Camden Property Trust	2	10	5	0	2.18
Essex Property Trust	1	11	7	0	2.32

Camden Property Trust currently has a consensus target price of $114.48, indicating a potential upside of 4.89%. Essex Property Trust has a consensus target price of $289.62, indicating a potential upside of 5.66%. Given Essex Property Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Essex Property Trust is more favorable than Camden Property Trust.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

97.2% of Camden Property Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.5% of Essex Property Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Camden Property Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Essex Property Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Camden Property Trust and Essex Property Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Camden Property Trust	24.69%	8.71%	4.28%
Essex Property Trust	30.03%	10.00%	4.36%

Summary

Essex Property Trust beats Camden Property Trust on 14 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Camden Property Trust

Camden Property Trust, an S&P 500 Company, is a real estate company primarily engaged in the ownership, management, development, redevelopment, acquisition, and construction of multifamily apartment communities. Camden owns and operates 172 properties containing 58,250 apartment homes across the United States. Upon completion of 5 properties currently under development, the Company’s portfolio will increase to 59,996 apartment homes in 177 properties. Camden has been recognized as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For by FORTUNE magazine for 17 consecutive years, most recently ranking #24.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc., an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.