ELS vs ESS vs IRT Stock Comparison

Equity Lifestyle Properties, Essex Property Trust and Independence Realty Trust Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Equity Lifestyle Properties leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Equity Lifestyle Properties 5, Essex Property Trust 4, Independence Realty Trust 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionELSESSIRTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.82B $17.70B $3.52B ESS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.4x 42.8x 81.0x ELS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 28.7x 53.3x 115.0x ELS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +2.5% +4.7% +3.5% ESS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 25.7% 21.5% 6.5% ELS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 5.2x 5.3x — ELS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.03% 0.04% 0.05% IRT
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -0.2% +5.6% -8.3% ESS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -6.7%/yr -3.7%/yr -7.8%/yr ESS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 18.5% 20.1% 21.9% ELS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 46/100 52/100 IRT

Percentile Scorecard

ELSESSIRT

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

AxisELSESSIRT
Valuation 11 #129 of 145 13 #127 of 145 50 #73 of 145
Growth 57 #63 of 144 36 #92 of 144 53 #68 of 144
Profitability 91 #13 of 140 93 #11 of 140 50 #70 of 140
Financial Health 38 #91 of 146 50 #74 of 146 77 #35 of 146
Shareholder Returns 54 #61 of 132 38 #82 of 132 30 #93 of 132
Overall 50 46 52
  • ELS ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • ESS ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • IRT ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodELSESSIRTSPY
1 month +2.0%+1.8%+2.4% -1.0%
3 months -7.9%-5.1%-10.0% +2.9%
6 months -3.9%+9.0%-5.3% +6.4%
Year to date +0.4%+6.4%-14.5% +11.4%
1 year -0.2%+5.6%-8.3% +13.1%
3 years -6.5%+29.7%+12.7% +79.4%
3 years, per year -2.2%+9.1%+4.1% +21.5%
5 years -29.3%-17.0%-33.4% +67.7%
5 years, per year -6.7%-3.7%-7.8% +10.9%
10 years +62.8%+34.7%+66.1% +255.2%
10 years, per year +5.0%+3.0%+5.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureELSESSIRTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 18.5%20.1%21.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 17.8%21.8%23.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.200.120.16 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.010.28-0.38 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -34.2%-45.4%-57.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -11.0%-6.7%-15.9% -2.5%
52-week high $68.37$298.33$17.77 $779.14
52-week low $57.64$239.61$14.46 $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.

MultipleELSESSIRT
P/E now vs peer median 29.3xmedian 27.0x 43.2xmedian 27.0x 80.9xmedian 27.0x
P/S now vs peer median 7.6xmedian 4.1x 9.3xmedian 4.1x 5.3xmedian 4.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.9xmedian 14.5x 19.6xmedian 14.5x —median 14.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 34.2xmedian 23.7x 30.8xmedian 23.7x -965.0xmedian 23.7x
P/B now vs peer median 6.5xmedian 1.3x 3.3xmedian 1.3x 1.0xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median 2.63median 2.07 -5.39median 2.07 -5.15median 2.07

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 monthsELSESSIRT
Revenue $1.56B $1.93B $666.83M
Gross profit $1.42B – –
Operating income $409.36M $627.10M –
Net income $415.18M $437.61M $44.30M
Free cash flow $345.41M $580.66M -$3.65M
EPS (diluted) $2.01 $6.44 $0.18
Cash & equivalents $35.63M $58.33M $46.70M
Total debt $13.20B $26.96B $2.44B
Shares (diluted) 200.21M 64.28M 236.04M
Enterprise value $11.68B $17.46B $3.33B

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
MetricELSESSIRT
P/E 29.3x 43.2x 80.9x
P/FCF 34.2x 30.8x -965.0x
P/Operating cash flow 20.0x 16.0x 12.8x
P/S 7.6x 9.3x 5.3x
P/B 6.5x 3.3x 1.0x
P/Tangible book 6.5x 3.3x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA 23.9x 19.6x –
EV/EBIT 36.8x 39.1x –
EV/Revenue 9.6x 12.7x 8.9x
EV/FCF 43.7x 42.3x -1,621x
EV/Operating cash flow 25.6x 21.9x 21.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.63 -5.39 -5.15

Growth

14 metrics
MetricELSESSIRT
Revenue growth (1Y) 2.5% 4.7% 3.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.3% 5.2% 0.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 3.2% – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.9% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.3% -35.4% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 28.2% -2.6% –
Net income growth (1Y) 7.8% -49.8% 57.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 11.5% -7.9% -14.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 9.2% -48.2% 55.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 11.2% -8.0% -15.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 1.6% 8.3% 0.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.3% 5.4% 1.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -1.2% 344.6% 98.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 24.8% -3.3% 71.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricELSESSIRT
Gross margin 91.0% – –
EBITDA margin 40.4% 64.9% –
Operating margin 26.2% 32.5% –
Pretax margin 18.3% 18.9% –
Net margin 25.7% 21.5% 6.5%
FCF margin 22.1% 30.1% -0.5%
Operating cash flow margin 37.7% 58.0% 41.4%
Return on equity 22.8% 7.9% 1.3%
Return on assets 7.2% 3.4% 0.7%
Return on invested capital – – –
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.1x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 2.6x 6.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 0.6% 1.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricELSESSIRT
Debt / assets 57.1% 51.9% 40.1%
Debt / equity 1.8x 1.2x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 5.2x 5.3x –
Debt / FCF 9.6x 11.5x -669.1x
Liabilities / assets 68.7% 57.5% 42.8%
Equity / assets 31.3% 42.5% 57.2%
Interest coverage 3.0x 2.4x –
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricELSESSIRT
Dividend yield 3.5% 3.7% 4.7%
Net buyback yield 0.0% 0.3% -2.3%
Shareholder yield 3.5% 4.1% 2.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) 97.1% 151.6% 363.2%
Payout ratio (FCF) 116.8% 114.2% -4,405%
Dividend growth (1Y) 9.7% 4.0% 10.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 8.9% 4.8% 8.7%

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.

ConsensusELSESSIRT
Forward P/E 28.7xFY2026 53.3xFY2026 115.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.12FY2026 $5.22FY2026 $0.13FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +5.5%FY2026 -49.8%FY2026 -45.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +8.5% +29.7% +53.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.52BFY2026 $2.05BFY2026 $637.51MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -0.6%FY2026 +9.2%FY2026 -2.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +14.4% -7.5% +18.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersELSESSIRT
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 98.8%
Institutions holding 476 630 395
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.6% +4.7% +2.0%
Institutions buying 220 348 189
Institutions selling 190 183 140
Buyers to sellers 1.16 1.90 1.35

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.

ELSESSIRT
ELS 1.00 0.53 0.54
ESS 0.53 1.00 0.71
IRT 0.54 0.71 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ELS, ESS and IRT?

Essex Property Trust (ESS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) $11.82B, Essex Property Trust (ESS) $17.70B, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) $3.52B.

Which stock is cheaper, ELS, ESS and IRT?

Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 29.4x, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 42.8x, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) 81.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) is cheapest (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 28.7x, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 53.3x, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) 115.0x). 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: Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) +2.5%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) +4.7%, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) +3.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) has the highest net margin (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 25.7%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 21.5%, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) 6.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Essex Property Trust (ESS) returned the most: Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) -0.2%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) +5.6%, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) -8.3%. Over five years, Essex Property Trust (ESS) compounded fastest (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) -6.7%/yr, Essex Property Trust (ESS) -3.7%/yr, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) -7.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Independence Realty Trust (IRT) has the highest dividend yield: Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 0.03%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 0.04%, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) 0.05%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) has been the steadiest (Equity Lifestyle Properties (ELS) 18.5%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 20.1%, Independence Realty Trust (IRT) 21.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ELS, ESS and IRT?

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 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.