ALX vs CUZ vs HIW Stock Comparison

Alexanders, Cousins Properties and Highwoods Properties Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ALX Alexanders Inc
$249.22 +0.6% 1M +11.8% 1Y
Market cap
$1.29B
P/E
7.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$214.80M
Div. yield
0.07%
Office REITs Real Estate
4 wins
CUZ Cousins Properties Inc
$29.09 +5.4% 1M +14.6% 1Y
Market cap
$4.84B
P/E
326.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.05B
Div. yield
0.04%
Office REITs Real Estate
4 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Cousins Properties leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Cousins Properties 4, Alexanders 4, Highwoods Properties 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionALXCUZHIWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.29B $4.84B $3.41B CUZ
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 7.6x 326.3x 18.4x ALX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 29.5x 138.5x 26.7x HIW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -1.5% +8.5% +5.4% CUZ
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 79.1% 1.4% 21.7% ALX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 31.3x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.07% 0.04% 0.06% ALX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +11.8% +14.6% +7.2% CUZ
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -2.2%/yr -6.0%/yr -7.5%/yr ALX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.6% 26.9% 29.4% CUZ
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 35/100 30/100 47/100 HIW

Percentile Scorecard

ALXCUZHIW

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

AxisALXCUZHIW
Valuation 31 #101 of 145 35 #95 of 145 54 #68 of 145
Growth 32 #97 of 143 30 #101 of 143 35 #93 of 143
Profitability 46 #74 of 136 31 #94 of 136 60 #55 of 136
Financial Health 10 #125 of 138 39 #85 of 138 29 #98 of 138
Shareholder Returns 56 #58 of 131 15 #112 of 131 59 #55 of 131
Overall 35 30 47
  • ALX ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • CUZ ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • HIW ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodALXCUZHIWSPY
1 month +0.6%+5.4%+6.3% +0.7%
3 months -5.7%-8.9%-9.9% +3.7%
6 months -1.1%+13.6%+25.3% +7.1%
Year to date +14.4%+12.8%+17.9% +12.8%
1 year +11.8%+14.6%+7.2% +11.9%
3 years +34.1%+62.3%+70.0% +85.2%
3 years, per year +10.3%+17.5%+19.4% +22.8%
5 years -10.6%-26.6%-32.1% +67.6%
5 years, per year -2.2%-6.0%-7.5% +10.9%
10 years -35.3%-5.9%-37.6% +262.0%
10 years, per year -4.3%-0.6%-4.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureALXCUZHIWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.6%26.9%29.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.8%28.4%31.8% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.230.580.54 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.430.540.24 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.2%-58.2%-62.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.0%-9.9%-11.5% -1.2%
52-week high $286.59$32.30$34.39 $779.14
52-week low $205.15$21.34$20.58 $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.

MultipleALXCUZHIW
P/E now vs peer median 7.5xmedian 25.7x 322.8xmedian 25.7x 18.1xmedian 25.7x
P/S now vs peer median 5.9xmedian 4.1x 4.6xmedian 4.1x 3.9xmedian 4.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.3x 73.3xmedian 14.3x —median 14.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 87.6xmedian 23.5x -20.8xmedian 23.5x -9.2xmedian 23.5x
P/B now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 1.3x 1.1xmedian 1.3x 1.3xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.42median 1.86 -6.96median 1.86 1.93median 1.86

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 monthsALXCUZHIW
Revenue $214.80M $1.05B $851.95M
Gross profit – $715.60M –
Operating income – -$314.84M –
Net income $169.82M $15.11M $193.92M
Free cash flow $14.53M -$229.86M -$366.24M
EPS (diluted) $33.05 $0.09 $1.65
Cash & equivalents $303.31M $5.21M $279.21M
Total debt $3.48B $3.58B $3.51B
Shares (diluted) 5.14M 165.79M 112.32M
Enterprise value $496.35M $4.82B $2.92B

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
MetricALXCUZHIW
P/E 7.5x 322.8x 18.1x
P/FCF 87.6x -20.8x -9.2x
P/Operating cash flow 46.9x 11.3x 8.9x
P/S 5.9x 4.6x 3.9x
P/B 5.7x 1.1x 1.3x
P/Tangible book 5.7x 1.1x 1.5x
EV/EBITDA – 73.3x –
EV/EBIT – -26.6x –
EV/Revenue 8.4x 8.0x 7.7x
EV/FCF 124.2x -36.4x -18.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 66.4x 19.8x 17.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.42 -6.96 1.93

Growth

14 metrics
MetricALXCUZHIW
Revenue growth (1Y) -1.5% 8.5% 5.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.2% 9.3% 0.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 8.5% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 10.3% –
Operating income growth (1Y) – -32.4% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – -20.0% –
Net income growth (1Y) 354.2% -74.1% 49.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 17.9% -44.7% 11.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 354.0% -73.8% 46.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 17.8% -46.4% 9.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -68.1% 1.4% 4.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -28.8% 4.5% -0.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -74.4% 75.0% -176.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -38.2% -64.9% -66.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricALXCUZHIW
Gross margin – 68.4% –
EBITDA margin – 10.9% –
Operating margin – -30.1% –
Pretax margin – -47.3% –
Net margin 79.1% 1.4% 21.7%
FCF margin 6.8% -22.0% -43.0%
Operating cash flow margin 12.6% 40.4% 44.5%
Return on equity – 0.3% 7.5%
Return on assets – 0.2% 3.0%
Return on invested capital – – –
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.1x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.2x 28.0x 2.0x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.6% 1.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricALXCUZHIW
Debt / assets 69.4% 40.3% 54.5%
Debt / equity 3.7x 0.8x 1.4x
Net debt / EBITDA – 31.3x –
Debt / FCF 57.4x -15.6x -9.6x
Liabilities / assets 81.4% 49.8% 60.2%
Equity / assets 18.6% 50.2% 39.8%
Interest coverage – -1.7x –
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricALXCUZHIW
Dividend yield 7.2% 4.4% 6.6%
Net buyback yield – -1.8% -0.4%
Shareholder yield 7.2% 2.6% 6.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) 54.4% 1,419% 113.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) 636.3% -93.3% -60.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) 0.0% 1.7% 2.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 0.1% 3.3% 1.5%

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.

ConsensusALXCUZHIW
Forward P/E 29.5xFY2027 138.5xFY2026 26.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.44FY2027 $0.21FY2026 $1.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -31.2%FY2027 -12.5%FY2026 -21.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +128.6% -36.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $259.67MFY2026 $1.04BFY2026 $908.60MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +21.8%FY2026 +5.6%FY2026 +12.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -8.1% +10.4% -8.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersALXCUZHIW
Held by institutions 38.9% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 153 394 372
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.7% +0.6% +10.9%
Institutions buying 71 201 214
Institutions selling 50 139 102
Buyers to sellers 1.42 1.45 2.10

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.

ALXCUZHIW
ALX 1.00 0.37 0.35
CUZ 0.37 1.00 0.87
HIW 0.35 0.87 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ALX, CUZ and HIW?

Cousins Properties (CUZ) is the largest by market capitalisation: Alexanders (ALX) $1.29B, Cousins Properties (CUZ) $4.84B, Highwoods Properties (HIW) $3.41B.

Which stock is cheaper, ALX, CUZ and HIW?

Alexanders (ALX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Alexanders (ALX) 7.6x, Cousins Properties (CUZ) 326.3x, Highwoods Properties (HIW) 18.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Highwoods Properties (HIW) is cheapest (Alexanders (ALX) 29.5x, Cousins Properties (CUZ) 138.5x, Highwoods Properties (HIW) 26.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Cousins Properties (CUZ) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Alexanders (ALX) -1.5%, Cousins Properties (CUZ) +8.5%, Highwoods Properties (HIW) +5.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Alexanders (ALX) has the highest net margin (Alexanders (ALX) 79.1%, Cousins Properties (CUZ) 1.4%, Highwoods Properties (HIW) 21.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cousins Properties (CUZ) returned the most: Alexanders (ALX) +11.8%, Cousins Properties (CUZ) +14.6%, Highwoods Properties (HIW) +7.2%. Over five years, Alexanders (ALX) compounded fastest (Alexanders (ALX) -2.2%/yr, Cousins Properties (CUZ) -6.0%/yr, Highwoods Properties (HIW) -7.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Alexanders (ALX) has the highest dividend yield: Alexanders (ALX) 0.07%, Cousins Properties (CUZ) 0.04%, Highwoods Properties (HIW) 0.06%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cousins Properties (CUZ) has been the steadiest (Alexanders (ALX) 27.6%, Cousins Properties (CUZ) 26.9%, Highwoods Properties (HIW) 29.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ALX, CUZ and HIW?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Cousins Properties (CUZ) leads on 4. 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.