ELS vs ESRT vs MAA Stock Comparison

Equity Lifestyle Properties, Empire State Realty Trust and Mid America Apartment Communities Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Equity Lifestyle Properties leads on 10 of the 12 questions below (Equity Lifestyle Properties 10, Mid America Apartment Communities 1, Empire State Realty Trust 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionELSESRTMAALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.41B $862.89M $13.70B MAA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.2x 280.8x 35.7x ELS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 27.5x — 32.7x ELS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.2% +2.0% +1.0% ELS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 24.8% 0.4% — ELS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 7.8% -1.1% — ELS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 5.2x 5.0x — ESRT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.04% 0.03% 0.00% ELS
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -4.5% -36.1% -10.7% ELS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -7.3%/yr -12.5%/yr -10.6%/yr ELS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 18.7% 36.5% 19.8% ELS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 35/100 49/100 ELS

Percentile Scorecard

ELSESRTMAA

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

AxisELSESRTMAA
Valuation 12 #128 of 145 78 #33 of 145 38 #91 of 145
Growth 54 #66 of 142 1 #140 of 142 14 #123 of 142
Profitability 94 #9 of 135 25 #101 of 135 78 #30 of 135
Financial Health 39 #84 of 136 57 #59 of 136 –
Shareholder Returns 54 #61 of 131 12 #115 of 131 65 #47 of 131
Overall 50 35 49
  • ELS ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • ESRT ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • MAA ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodELSESRTMAASPY
1 month -1.9%+22.7%-1.2% +0.9%
3 months -14.3%-14.3%-15.0% +5.9%
6 months -6.8%-11.4%-10.0% +8.5%
Year to date -4.3%-23.6%-16.0% +13.3%
1 year -4.5%-36.1%-10.7% +12.4%
3 years -9.9%-37.9%-0.7% +88.1%
3 years, per year -3.4%-14.7%-0.2% +23.5%
5 years -31.4%-48.6%-42.8% +68.2%
5 years, per year -7.3%-12.5%-10.6% +11.0%
10 years +56.4%-74.0%+29.2% +263.4%
10 years, per year +4.6%-12.6%+2.6% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureELSESRTMAASPY
Volatility, 1Y 18.7%36.5%19.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 18.3%41.7%19.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.220.320.04 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.24-0.99-0.54 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -34.2%-65.6%-50.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -15.2%-36.1%-17.9% -0.9%
52-week high $68.37$7.79$142.19 $779.14
52-week low $57.64$3.93$114.20 $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.

MultipleELSESRTMAA
P/E now vs peer median 28.7xmedian 25.8x 277.2xmedian 25.8x 35.3xmedian 25.8x
P/S now vs peer median 7.1xmedian 4.0x 1.1xmedian 4.0x 6.1xmedian 4.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.8xmedian 14.2x 9.9xmedian 14.2x —median 14.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 30.3xmedian 23.0x -2.0xmedian 23.0x 29.0xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median 6.2xmedian 1.3x 0.5xmedian 1.3x 2.5xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median 3.22median 1.91 -4.63median 1.91 -2.75median 1.91

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 monthsELSESRTMAA
Revenue $1.58B $784.18M $2.22B
Gross profit $1.44B – –
Operating income $412.54M -$34.52M –
Net income $404.07M $9.26M $394.48M
Free cash flow $370.75M -$437.31M –
EPS (diluted) $1.95 $0.01 $3.31
Cash & equivalents $24.33M $85.61M $25.69M
Total debt $3.31B $4.54B –
Shares (diluted) 200.25M 268.95M 116.14M
Enterprise value $11.29B $421.70M $13.70B

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
MetricELSESRTMAA
P/E 28.7x 277.2x 35.3x
P/FCF 30.3x -2.0x 29.0x
P/Operating cash flow 19.0x 3.8x –
P/S 7.1x 1.1x 6.1x
P/B 6.2x 0.5x 2.5x
P/Tangible book 6.2x 0.5x 2.5x
EV/EBITDA 22.8x 9.9x –
EV/EBIT 35.2x -50.0x –
EV/Revenue 9.2x 2.2x 6.1x
EV/FCF 39.2x -3.9x –
EV/Operating cash flow 24.5x 7.6x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.22 -4.63 -2.75

Growth

14 metrics
MetricELSESRTMAA
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.2% 2.0% 1.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.4% 2.9% 1.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 3.4% – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.9% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 4.9% -123.1% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 16.4% -31.0% –
Net income growth (1Y) 1.3% -86.5% -30.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.2% -51.3% -13.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 2.3% -92.4% -29.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.9% -59.8% -12.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 2.8% -13.3% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.6% -0.8% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 11.0% -169.4% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.6% -149.9% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricELSESRTMAA
Gross margin 91.0% – –
EBITDA margin 40.3% 22.1% –
Operating margin 26.1% -4.4% –
Pretax margin 18.3% 1.3% –
Net margin 24.8% 0.4% –
FCF margin 23.5% -55.8% –
Operating cash flow margin 37.6% 29.0% –
Return on equity 22.3% 0.5% 7.2%
Return on assets 7.0% 0.2% 3.3%
Return on invested capital 7.8% -1.1% –
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.2x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x 24.6x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 3.9% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricELSESRTMAA
Debt / assets 57.4% 22.4% –
Debt / equity 1.8x 0.5x –
Net debt / EBITDA 5.2x 5.0x –
Debt / FCF 8.9x -2.2x –
Liabilities / assets 68.7% 58.1% 54.8%
Equity / assets 31.3% 41.9% 45.1%
Interest coverage 3.0x -0.3x –
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricELSESRTMAA
Dividend yield 3.7% 3.1% 5.2%
Net buyback yield 0.0% – –
Shareholder yield 3.7% 3.1% 5.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) 101.5% 259.1% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 110.6% -5.5% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 8.7% 2.2% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 8.7% 1.9% –

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.

ConsensusELSESRTMAA
Forward P/E 27.5xFY2026 – 32.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.11FY2026 $-0.35FY2027 $3.57FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +5.0%FY2026 -240.0%FY2027 -5.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +9.0% – -9.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.52BFY2026 $758.24MFY2026 $2.29BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -0.6%FY2026 -1.3%FY2026 +3.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +14.4% +4.5% +1.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersELSESRTMAA
Held by institutions 100.0% 83.6% 97.1%
Institutions holding 476 228 771
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.6% +0.4% +8.2%
Institutions buying 220 141 395
Institutions selling 190 51 262
Buyers to sellers 1.16 2.76 1.51

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.

ELSESRTMAA
ELS 1.00 0.35 0.57
ESRT 0.35 1.00 0.31
MAA 0.57 0.31 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ELS, ESRT and MAA?

Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) $11.41B, Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) $862.89M, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) $13.70B.

Which stock is cheaper, ELS, ESRT and MAA?

Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 29.2x, Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) 280.8x, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) 35.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) is cheapest (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 27.5x, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) 32.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) +3.2%, Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) +2.0%, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) +1.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) has the highest net margin (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 24.8%, Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) 0.4%). On return on invested capital, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) leads (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 7.8%, Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) -1.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) returned the most: Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) -4.5%, Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) -36.1%, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) -10.7%. Over five years, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) compounded fastest (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) -7.3%/yr, Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) -12.5%/yr, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) -10.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) has the highest dividend yield: Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 0.04%, Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) 0.03%, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) 0.00%. Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) has been the steadiest (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 18.7%, Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) 36.5%, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) 19.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ELS, ESRT and MAA?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) leads on 10. 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.