ALX vs AMH vs ESS Stock Comparison

Alexanders, American Homes 4 Rent and Essex Property Trust Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ALX Alexanders Inc
$251.02 +2.8% 1M +13.6% 1Y
Market cap
$1.28B
P/E
7.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$214.80M
Div. yield
7.17%
Office REITs Real Estate
6 wins
AMH American Homes 4 Rent
$31.90 +5.4% 1M +0.9% 1Y
Market cap
$11.46B
P/E
24.7x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
4.04%
Residential REITs Real Estate
2 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Alexanders leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Alexanders 6, Essex Property Trust 2, American Homes 4 Rent 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionALXAMHESSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.28B $11.46B $17.06B ESS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 7.6x 24.7x 41.2x ALX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 29.7x 30.1x 51.0x ALX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -1.5% — +4.7% ESS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 79.1% — 21.5% ALX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 5.3x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 7.17% 4.04% 3.89% ALX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +13.6% +0.9% +5.4% ALX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -2.2%/yr -4.9%/yr -4.6%/yr ALX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.5% 20.1% 20.3% AMH
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 36/100 63/100 47/100 AMH

Percentile Scorecard

ALXAMHESS

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisALXAMHESS
Valuation 30 #102 of 145 51 #71 of 145 15 #123 of 145
Growth 34 #96 of 144 69 #46 of 144 34 #95 of 144
Profitability 47 #75 of 140 65 #50 of 140 92 #12 of 140
Financial Health 9 #133 of 146 63 #55 of 146 50 #74 of 146
Shareholder Returns 60 #53 of 132 68 #43 of 132 44 #74 of 132
Overall 36 63 47
  • ALX ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • AMH ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • ESS ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodALXAMHESSSPY
1 month +2.8%+5.4%-1.1% -2.3%
3 months -4.9%-7.6%-7.1% -0.7%
6 months +3.0%-0.3%+0.3% +4.8%
Year to date +15.2%-0.6%+1.5% +10.3%
1 year +13.6%+0.9%+5.4% +10.3%
3 years +29.0%-9.9%+22.2% +73.0%
3 years, per year +8.9%-3.4%+6.9% +20.1%
5 years -10.7%-22.2%-20.9% +61.9%
5 years, per year -2.2%-4.9%-4.6% +10.1%
10 years -33.8%+57.9%+23.2% +258.6%
10 years, per year -4.0%+4.7%+2.1% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureALXAMHESSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.5%20.1%20.3% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.8%19.1%22.1% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.200.010.11 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.500.050.27 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.2%-37.2%-45.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -12.4%-8.4%-11.0% -3.5%
52-week high $286.59$34.81$298.33 $779.14
52-week low $205.15$27.38$239.61 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleALXAMHESS
P/E now vs peer median 7.6xmedian 26.3x 24.7xmedian 26.3x 41.2xmedian 26.3x
P/S now vs peer median 6.0xmedian 4.2x —median 4.2x 8.9xmedian 4.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.4x —median 14.4x 18.9xmedian 14.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 88.2xmedian 23.9x 1,104xmedian 23.9x 29.4xmedian 23.9x
P/B now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 1.3x 1.5xmedian 1.3x 3.1xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.43median 1.98 2.55median 1.98 -5.14median 1.98

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsALXAMHESS
Revenue $214.80M – $1.93B
Operating income – – $627.10M
Net income $169.82M $542.82M $437.61M
Free cash flow $14.53M $10.37M $580.66M
EPS (diluted) $33.05 $1.29 $6.44
Cash & equivalents $303.31M $83.67M $58.33M
Total debt $834.57M $5.13B $6.70B
Shares (diluted) 5.14M 360.81M 64.28M
Enterprise value $488.17M $11.83B $16.99B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricALXAMHESS
P/E 7.6x 24.7x 41.2x
P/FCF 88.2x 1,104x 29.4x
P/Operating cash flow 47.2x 13.2x 15.3x
P/S 6.0x – 8.9x
P/B 5.7x 1.5x 3.1x
P/Tangible book 5.7x 1.5x 3.1x
EV/EBITDA – – 18.9x
EV/EBIT – – 37.8x
EV/Revenue 8.4x – 12.3x
EV/FCF 124.8x 1,591x 40.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 66.8x 19.1x 21.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.43 2.55 -5.14

Growth

14 metrics
MetricALXAMHESS
Revenue growth (1Y) -1.5% – 4.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.2% – 5.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – – -35.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – -2.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 354.2% 12.2% -49.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 17.9% 9.1% -7.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 354.0% 15.9% -48.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 17.8% 9.7% -8.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -68.1% 4.1% 8.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -28.8% 7.2% 5.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -74.4% 101.6% 344.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -38.2% 26.4% -3.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricALXAMHESS
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin – – 64.9%
Operating margin – – 32.5%
Pretax margin – – 18.9%
Net margin 79.1% – 21.5%
FCF margin 6.8% – 30.1%
Operating cash flow margin 12.6% – 58.0%
Return on equity – 7.2% 7.9%
Return on assets – 4.1% 3.4%
Return on invested capital – – –
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.2x – 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.2x 1.6x 2.6x
Stock comp / revenue – – 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricALXAMHESS
Debt / assets 69.4% 39.1% 51.9%
Debt / equity 3.7x 0.7x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 5.3x
Debt / FCF 57.4x 494.5x 11.5x
Liabilities / assets 81.4% 43.0% 57.5%
Equity / assets 18.6% 57.0% 42.5%
Interest coverage – – 2.4x
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricALXAMHESS
Dividend yield 7.2% 4.0% 3.9%
Net buyback yield – 2.0% 0.4%
Shareholder yield 7.2% 6.1% 4.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) 54.4% 85.3% 151.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) 636.3% 4,462% 114.2%
Dividend growth (1Y) 0.0% 11.3% 4.0%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 0.1% 17.4% 4.8%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusALXAMHESS
Forward P/E 29.7xFY2027 30.1xFY2026 51.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.44FY2027 $1.06FY2026 $5.21FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -31.2%FY2027 -10.2%FY2026 -49.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – -18.9% +29.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $259.67MFY2026 $2.04BFY2026 $2.05BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +21.8%FY2026 +10.0%FY2026 +9.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -8.1% -0.6% -7.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersALXAMHESS
Held by institutions 38.9% 90.7% 100.0%
Institutions holding 153 482 632
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.7% +8.2% +4.7%
Institutions buying 71 255 348
Institutions selling 50 160 185
Buyers to sellers 1.42 1.59 1.88

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ALXAMHESS
ALX 1.00 0.29 0.32
AMH 0.29 1.00 0.70
ESS 0.32 0.70 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ALX, AMH and ESS?

Essex Property Trust (ESS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Alexanders (ALX) $1.28B, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) $11.46B, Essex Property Trust (ESS) $17.06B.

Which stock is cheaper, ALX, AMH and ESS?

Alexanders (ALX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Alexanders (ALX) 7.6x, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) 24.7x, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 41.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Alexanders (ALX) is cheapest (Alexanders (ALX) 29.7x, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) 30.1x, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 51.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Essex Property Trust (ESS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Alexanders (ALX) -1.5%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) +4.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Alexanders (ALX) has the highest net margin (Alexanders (ALX) 79.1%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 21.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Alexanders (ALX) returned the most: Alexanders (ALX) +13.6%, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) +0.9%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) +5.4%. Over five years, Alexanders (ALX) compounded fastest (Alexanders (ALX) -2.2%/yr, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) -4.9%/yr, Essex Property Trust (ESS) -4.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Alexanders (ALX) has the highest dividend yield: Alexanders (ALX) 7.17%, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) 4.04%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 3.89%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) has been the steadiest (Alexanders (ALX) 27.5%, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) 20.1%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 20.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ALX, AMH and ESS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Alexanders (ALX) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.