Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) vs. Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV) Financial Contrast

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) and Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE:AIV) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.5% of Essex Property Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.3% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.5% of Essex Property Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of Apartment Investment and Management shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Essex Property Trust and Apartment Investment and Management”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Essex Property Trust	$1.89 billion	9.30	$669.67 million	$5.39	50.59
Apartment Investment and Management	$138.49 million	1.53	$554.01 million	$3.88	0.38

Essex Property Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Apartment Investment and Management. Apartment Investment and Management 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Essex Property Trust and Apartment Investment and Management, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essex Property Trust	1	10	10	1	2.50
Apartment Investment and Management	1	0	0	0	1.00

Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus price target of $297.52, suggesting a potential upside of 9.11%. Given Essex Property Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Essex Property Trust is more favorable than Apartment Investment and Management.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essex Property Trust	17.84%	6.24%	2.67%
Apartment Investment and Management	N/A	N/A	N/A

Volatility and Risk

Essex Property Trust has a beta of 0.69, suggesting that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Apartment Investment and Management has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Essex Property Trust beats Apartment Investment and Management on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust focused on owning, operating, acquiring, developing and redeveloping apartment communities. Its portfolio serves renters in major coastal markets in Southern California, Northern California and the Seattle metropolitan area. Founded in 1971, the company became publicly traded in 1994. Essex’s primary business is providing rental housing, with property operations and development activities supporting its apartment portfolio.

About Apartment Investment and Management

Apartment Investment and Management Company, which operates as Aimco, is a real estate investment trust focused on owning, operating, redeveloping and developing apartment communities in the United States. Its properties serve residential renters in a range of urban and suburban markets. In 2020, Aimco separated its portfolio of stabilized apartment communities into Apartment Income REIT Corp. (AIR Communities). Aimco retained a smaller portfolio of properties along with development and redevelopment activities.