ESS vs UDR vs BDN Stock Comparison

Essex Property Trust, Udr and Brandywine Realty Trust Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
UDR UDR, Inc.
$35.72 +5.5% 1M -1.4% 1Y
Market cap
$11.48B
P/E
22.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.72B
Div. yield
0.05%
Residential REITs Real Estate
6 wins
BDN Brandywine Realty Trust
$2.91 +1.4% 1M -21.4% 1Y
Market cap
$512.69M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$498.29M
Div. yield
–
Office REITs Real Estate
1 win

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Udr leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Udr 6, Essex Property Trust 5, Brandywine Realty Trust 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionESSUDRBDNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $17.54B $11.48B $512.69M ESS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 42.4x 22.2x -3.6x UDR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 52.9x 34.0x — UDR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.7% +1.5% +0.5% ESS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 21.5% 30.1% -28.8% UDR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 7.9% 7.3% UDR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 5.3x 4.2x 1.0x BDN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.04% 0.05% 0.00% UDR
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +4.0% -1.4% -21.4% ESS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -4.2%/yr -8.4%/yr -26.1%/yr ESS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 20.2% 21.0% 35.8% ESS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 46/100 58/100 58/100 UDR

Percentile Scorecard

ESSUDRBDN

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

AxisESSUDRBDN
Valuation 13 #127 of 145 40 #87 of 145 95 #8 of 145
Growth 36 #92 of 142 62 #55 of 142 19 #115 of 142
Profitability 91 #13 of 136 95 #8 of 136 24 #103 of 136
Financial Health 51 #68 of 139 37 #88 of 139 59 #58 of 139
Shareholder Returns 39 #80 of 131 58 #56 of 131 94 #9 of 131
Overall 46 58 58
  • ESS ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • UDR ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • BDN ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodESSUDRBDNSPY
1 month +1.4%+5.5%+1.4% -0.8%
3 months -5.1%-9.0%-5.5% +3.5%
6 months +7.2%+3.4%-3.0% +7.0%
Year to date +5.2%-2.6%-0.3% +12.2%
1 year +4.0%-1.4%-21.4% +13.0%
3 years +33.3%+13.2%-22.4% +86.3%
3 years, per year +10.1%+4.2%-8.1% +23.1%
5 years -19.5%-35.6%-77.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year -4.2%-8.4%-26.1% +11.0%
10 years +32.7%+4.4%-80.6% +258.0%
10 years, per year +2.9%+0.4%-15.1% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureESSUDRBDNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 20.2%21.0%35.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.9%20.9%34.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.120.140.58 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.20-0.07-0.60 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -45.4%-48.3%-83.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.7%-13.4%-19.6% -1.8%
52-week high $298.33$41.24$3.62 $779.14
52-week low $239.61$33.28$2.47 $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.

MultipleESSUDRBDN
P/E now vs peer median 42.8xmedian 27.4x 22.3xmedian 27.4x -3.5xmedian 27.4x
P/S now vs peer median 9.2xmedian 4.2x 6.7xmedian 4.2x 1.0xmedian 4.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 19.5xmedian 14.2x 12.6xmedian 14.2x 2.9xmedian 14.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 30.5xmedian 23.2x 33.0xmedian 23.2x 58.4xmedian 23.2x
P/B now vs peer median 3.2xmedian 1.3x 3.9xmedian 1.3x 0.7xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median -5.33median 2.11 3.51median 2.11 0.04median 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 monthsESSUDRBDN
Revenue $1.93B $1.72B $498.29M
Operating income $627.10M $699.68M $73.79M
Net income $437.61M $557.97M -$143.21M
Free cash flow $580.66M $347.44M $8.70M
EPS (diluted) $6.44 $1.60 $-0.82
Cash & equivalents $58.33M $1.19M $37.87M
Total debt $26.96B $23.13B $1.07B
Shares (diluted) 64.28M 323.29M 174.38M
Enterprise value $17.30B $11.48B $330.86M

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
MetricESSUDRBDN
P/E 42.8x 22.3x -3.5x
P/FCF 30.5x 33.0x 58.4x
P/Operating cash flow 15.8x 12.9x 4.2x
P/S 9.2x 6.7x 1.0x
P/B 3.2x 3.9x 0.7x
P/Tangible book 3.2x 3.9x 0.7x
EV/EBITDA 19.5x 12.6x 2.9x
EV/EBIT 38.8x 24.7x 10.3x
EV/Revenue 12.6x 10.1x 1.5x
EV/FCF 41.9x 49.8x 87.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.8x 19.5x 6.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -5.33 3.51 0.04

Growth

14 metrics
MetricESSUDRBDN
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.7% 1.5% 0.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.2% 2.5% -0.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -35.4% 108.4% 639.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -2.6% 4.4% -12.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -49.8% 296.1% 56.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -7.9% 5.5% -97.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -48.2% 317.5% 56.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -8.0% 6.4% -97.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 8.3% 1.1% -18.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.4% 2.2% -14.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 344.6% -38.3% -25.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -3.3% -1.9% -30.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricESSUDRBDN
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 64.9% 79.8% 53.2%
Operating margin 32.5% 40.8% 14.8%
Pretax margin 18.9% 32.6% -28.7%
Net margin 21.5% 30.1% -28.8%
FCF margin 30.1% 20.2% 1.7%
Operating cash flow margin 58.0% 51.7% 24.4%
Return on equity 7.9% 17.9% -20.0%
Return on assets 3.4% 5.4% -4.0%
Return on invested capital – 7.9% 7.3%
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.2x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.6x 1.6x -0.9x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 1.6% 1.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricESSUDRBDN
Debt / assets 51.9% 56.6% 8.3%
Debt / equity 1.2x 2.0x 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 5.3x 4.2x 1.0x
Debt / FCF 11.5x 16.7x 33.7x
Liabilities / assets 57.5% 71.4% 80.3%
Equity / assets 42.5% 28.6% 19.7%
Interest coverage 2.4x 3.6x –
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricESSUDRBDN
Dividend yield 3.8% 4.0% 11.0%
Net buyback yield 0.3% 3.6% 0.4%
Shareholder yield 4.1% 7.6% 11.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 151.6% 101.7% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 114.2% 163.4% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 4.0% 0.7% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 4.8% 3.6% –

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.

ConsensusESSUDRBDN
Forward P/E 52.9xFY2026 34.0xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $5.21FY2026 $1.05FY2026 $-0.81FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -49.9%FY2026 -7.1%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +29.6% -41.9% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.05BFY2026 $1.77BFY2026 $512.58MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.2%FY2026 +4.0%FY2026 +12.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -7.5% +0.9% -15.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersESSUDRBDN
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 73.2%
Institutions holding 630 524 232
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.7% +4.9% +2.5%
Institutions buying 348 243 130
Institutions selling 183 207 68
Buyers to sellers 1.90 1.17 1.91

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.

ESSUDRBDN
ESS 1.00 0.85 0.39
UDR 0.85 1.00 0.42
BDN 0.39 0.42 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ESS, UDR and BDN?

Essex Property Trust (ESS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Essex Property Trust (ESS) $17.54B, Udr (UDR) $11.48B, Brandywine Realty Trust (BDN) $512.69M.

Which stock is cheaper, ESS, UDR and BDN?

Udr (UDR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Essex Property Trust (ESS) 42.4x, Udr (UDR) 22.2x, Brandywine Realty Trust (BDN) -3.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Udr (UDR) is cheapest (Essex Property Trust (ESS) 52.9x, Udr (UDR) 34.0x). 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: Essex Property Trust (ESS) +4.7%, Udr (UDR) +1.5%, Brandywine Realty Trust (BDN) +0.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Udr (UDR) has the highest net margin (Essex Property Trust (ESS) 21.5%, Udr (UDR) 30.1%, Brandywine Realty Trust (BDN) -28.8%). On return on invested capital, Udr (UDR) leads (Udr (UDR) 7.9%, Brandywine Realty Trust (BDN) 7.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Essex Property Trust (ESS) returned the most: Essex Property Trust (ESS) +4.0%, Udr (UDR) -1.4%, Brandywine Realty Trust (BDN) -21.4%. Over five years, Essex Property Trust (ESS) compounded fastest (Essex Property Trust (ESS) -4.2%/yr, Udr (UDR) -8.4%/yr, Brandywine Realty Trust (BDN) -26.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Udr (UDR) has the highest dividend yield: Essex Property Trust (ESS) 0.04%, Udr (UDR) 0.05%, Brandywine Realty Trust (BDN) 0.00%. Brandywine Realty Trust (BDN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Essex Property Trust (ESS) has been the steadiest (Essex Property Trust (ESS) 20.2%, Udr (UDR) 21.0%, Brandywine Realty Trust (BDN) 35.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ESS, UDR and BDN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Udr (UDR) 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.