CPT vs ESS Stock Comparison

Camden Property Trust and Essex Property Trust Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CPT Camden Property Trust
$102.01 +3.9% 1M -2.9% 1Y
Market cap
$10.37B
P/E
31.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$13.12M
Div. yield
–
Residential REITs Real Estate
5 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Camden Property Trust leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Camden Property Trust 5, Essex Property Trust 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCPTESSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $10.37B $17.68B ESS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 31.8x 42.7x CPT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 99.0x 52.9x ESS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +56.8% +4.7% CPT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2,486.2% 21.5% CPT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 5.3x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.04% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -2.9% +4.0% ESS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.6%/yr -4.2%/yr ESS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 20.1% 20.2% CPT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 46/100 CPT

Percentile Scorecard

CPTESS

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

AxisCPTESS
Valuation 13 #126 of 145 13 #127 of 145
Growth 74 #38 of 142 36 #92 of 142
Profitability 46 #74 of 136 91 #13 of 136
Financial Health 36 #90 of 139 51 #68 of 139
Shareholder Returns 88 #17 of 131 39 #80 of 131
Overall 51 46
  • CPT 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

PeriodCPTESSSPY
1 month +3.9%+1.4% -0.8%
3 months -9.6%-5.1% +3.5%
6 months +0.4%+7.2% +7.0%
Year to date -7.3%+5.2% +12.2%
1 year -2.9%+4.0% +13.0%
3 years +21.5%+33.3% +86.3%
3 years, per year +6.7%+10.1% +23.1%
5 years -36.0%-19.5% +68.6%
5 years, per year -8.6%-4.2% +11.0%
10 years +28.2%+32.7% +258.0%
10 years, per year +2.5%+2.9% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCPTESSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 20.1%20.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.6%21.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.090.12 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.140.20 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -53.0%-45.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.2%-7.7% -1.8%
52-week high $117.53$298.33 $779.14
52-week low $95.82$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.

MultipleCPTESS
P/E now vs peer median 32.0xmedian 27.4x 42.8xmedian 27.4x
P/S now vs peer median 781.6xmedian 4.2x 9.2xmedian 4.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.2x 19.5xmedian 14.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median -48.5xmedian 23.2x 30.5xmedian 23.2x
P/B now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 1.3x 3.2xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median 1.71median 2.11 -5.33median 2.11

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 monthsCPTESS
Revenue $13.12M $1.93B
Operating income – $627.10M
Net income $336.62M $437.61M
Free cash flow -$211.62M $580.66M
EPS (diluted) $3.19 $6.44
Cash & equivalents $44.72M $58.33M
Total debt $4.85B $26.96B
Shares (diluted) 102.36M 64.28M
Enterprise value $10.24B $17.44B

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
MetricCPTESS
P/E 32.0x 42.8x
P/FCF -48.5x 30.5x
P/Operating cash flow 12.7x 15.8x
P/S 781.6x 9.2x
P/B 2.6x 3.2x
P/Tangible book 2.6x 3.2x
EV/EBITDA – 19.5x
EV/EBIT – 38.8x
EV/Revenue 1,148x 12.6x
EV/FCF -71.2x 41.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.7x 21.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.71 -5.33

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCPTESS
Revenue growth (1Y) 56.8% 4.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 66.5% 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) 108.1% -49.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 16.0% -7.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 123.5% -48.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 18.7% -8.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 1.8% 8.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 1.1% 5.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -377.3% 344.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -36.7% -3.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCPTESS
Gross margin – –
EBITDA margin – 64.9%
Operating margin – 32.5%
Pretax margin – 18.9%
Net margin 2,486% 21.5%
FCF margin -1,613% 30.1%
Operating cash flow margin 6,154% 58.0%
Return on equity 8.4% 7.9%
Return on assets 3.6% 3.4%
Return on invested capital – –
Return on capital employed – –
Asset turnover 0.0x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.4x 2.6x
Stock comp / revenue 128.3% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCPTESS
Debt / assets 51.3% 51.9%
Debt / equity 1.3x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA – 5.3x
Debt / FCF -22.9x 11.5x
Liabilities / assets 59.0% 57.5%
Equity / assets 41.0% 42.5%
Interest coverage – 2.4x
Current ratio – –
Quick ratio – –
Cash ratio – –
Altman Z-score – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCPTESS
Dividend yield 4.1% 3.8%
Net buyback yield 6.6% 0.3%
Shareholder yield 10.8% 4.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 151.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 114.2%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 4.0%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 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.

ConsensusCPTESS
Forward P/E 99.0xFY2026 52.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.03FY2026 $5.21FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -70.9%FY2026 -49.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -8.7% +29.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.60BFY2026 $2.05BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.1%FY2026 +9.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -8.2% -7.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCPTESS
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 575 630
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.4% +4.7%
Institutions buying 267 348
Institutions selling 213 183
Buyers to sellers 1.25 1.90

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.

CPTESS
CPT 1.00 0.82
ESS 0.82 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CPT and ESS?

Essex Property Trust (ESS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Camden Property Trust (CPT) $10.37B, Essex Property Trust (ESS) $17.68B.

Which stock is cheaper, CPT and ESS?

Camden Property Trust (CPT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Camden Property Trust (CPT) 31.8x, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 42.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Essex Property Trust (ESS) is cheapest (Camden Property Trust (CPT) 99.0x, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 52.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Camden Property Trust (CPT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Camden Property Trust (CPT) +56.8%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) +4.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Camden Property Trust (CPT) has the highest net margin (Camden Property Trust (CPT) 2,486.2%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 21.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Essex Property Trust (ESS) returned the most: Camden Property Trust (CPT) -2.9%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) +4.0%. Over five years, Essex Property Trust (ESS) compounded fastest (Camden Property Trust (CPT) -8.6%/yr, Essex Property Trust (ESS) -4.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Camden Property Trust (CPT) 0.00%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 0.04%. Camden Property Trust (CPT) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Camden Property Trust (CPT) has been the steadiest (Camden Property Trust (CPT) 20.1%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 20.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do CPT and ESS move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.82, a strong positive relationship. Holding both adds little diversification.

Which is the better stock, CPT 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, Camden Property Trust (CPT) leads on 5. 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.