HIW vs CDP vs ARE Stock Comparison

Highwoods Properties, Copt Defense Properties and Alexandria Real Estate Equities Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CDP Copt Defense Properties
$34.10 +0.5% 1M +20.2% 1Y
Market cap
$3.82B
P/E
23.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$784.18M
Div. yield
0.04%
Office REITs Real Estate
7 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Copt Defense Properties leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Copt Defense Properties 7, Alexandria Real Estate Equities 2, Highwoods Properties 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHIWCDPARELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.30B $3.82B $6.96B ARE
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 19.8x 23.3x -4.8x HIW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.7x 23.0x 27.8x CDP
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.0% +4.5% -9.9% CDP
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 19.9% 20.9% -52.0% CDP
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 5.0% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 6.7x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.07% 0.04% 0.09% ARE
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +2.3% +20.2% -44.0% CDP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -7.5%/yr +4.6%/yr -26.8%/yr CDP
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 29.3% 18.5% 50.0% CDP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 40/100 49/100 39/100 CDP

Percentile Scorecard

HIWCDPARE

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

AxisHIWCDPARE
Valuation 41 #86 of 145 47 #78 of 145 73 #40 of 145
Growth 23 #109 of 142 61 #56 of 142 7 #132 of 142
Profitability 56 #61 of 136 77 #32 of 136 14 #117 of 136
Financial Health 32 #95 of 139 25 #105 of 139 74 #37 of 139
Shareholder Returns 48 #69 of 131 38 #82 of 131 29 #94 of 131
Overall 40 49 39
  • HIW ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • CDP ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • ARE ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodHIWCDPARESPY
1 month +1.1%+0.5%-13.1% -0.8%
3 months -10.2%-10.9%-15.6% +3.5%
6 months +26.3%+5.5%-4.8% +7.0%
Year to date +17.8%+22.7%-11.4% +12.2%
1 year +2.3%+20.2%-44.0% +13.0%
3 years +70.8%+48.5%-52.7% +86.3%
3 years, per year +19.6%+14.1%-22.1% +23.1%
5 years -32.2%+25.2%-78.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year -7.5%+4.6%-26.8% +11.0%
10 years -38.4%+25.3%-59.1% +258.0%
10 years, per year -4.7%+2.3%-8.6% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureHIWCDPARESPY
Volatility, 1Y 29.3%18.5%50.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 32.0%16.9%56.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.560.120.75 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.081.09-0.88 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -62.9%-26.0%-81.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -11.6%-11.1%-44.3% -1.8%
52-week high $34.39$38.34$77.87 $779.14
52-week low $20.58$27.32$40.41 $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.

MultipleHIWCDPARE
P/E now vs peer median 20.2xmedian 27.4x 23.4xmedian 27.4x -5.2xmedian 27.4x
P/S now vs peer median 4.0xmedian 4.2x 4.9xmedian 4.2x 2.7xmedian 4.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.2x 16.7xmedian 14.2x —median 14.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median -7.2xmedian 23.2x 122.3xmedian 23.2x -16.0xmedian 23.2x
P/B now vs peer median 1.3xmedian 1.3x 2.4xmedian 1.3x 0.4xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median 12.01median 2.11 -4.31median 2.11 0.05median 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 monthsHIWCDPARE
Revenue $835.54M $784.18M $2.76B
Gross profit – $754.22M –
Operating income – $207.72M –
Net income $173.55M $171.84M -$1.39B
Free cash flow -$462.85M $31.63M -$473.23M
EPS (diluted) $1.48 $1.43 $-8.40
Cash & equivalents $145.38M $24.16M $508.86M
Total debt $3.52B $2.59B $12.90B
Shares (diluted) 112.30M 114.90M 170.75M
Enterprise value $3.07B $3.47B -$633.23M

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
MetricHIWCDPARE
P/E 20.2x 23.4x -5.2x
P/FCF -7.2x 122.3x -16.0x
P/Operating cash flow 8.7x 11.5x 6.4x
P/S 4.0x 4.9x 2.7x
P/B 1.3x 2.4x 0.4x
P/Tangible book 1.5x 2.4x 0.4x
EV/EBITDA – 16.7x –
EV/EBIT – 31.0x –
EV/Revenue 8.0x 8.2x 6.6x
EV/FCF -14.5x 203.5x -38.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 17.5x 19.1x 15.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 12.01 -4.31 0.05

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHIWCDPARE
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.0% 4.5% -9.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -0.1% 4.1% -0.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 7.6% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 7.4% –
Operating income growth (1Y) – 19.5% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 28.6% –
Net income growth (1Y) 32.0% 14.4% -339.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 3.2% -4.4% -74.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 28.7% 12.2% -239.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 1.7% -5.4% -100.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 5.6% 3.5% -13.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -1.4% 8.0% -9.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -4,099% -17.2% 33.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -103.2% 31.7% 43.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHIWCDPARE
Gross margin – 96.2% –
EBITDA margin – 49.1% –
Operating margin – 26.5% –
Pretax margin – 21.5% –
Net margin 19.9% 20.9% -52.0%
FCF margin -55.4% 4.0% -17.1%
Operating cash flow margin 46.0% 43.0% 43.0%
Return on equity 6.7% 10.9% -6.6%
Return on assets 2.7% 3.8% -3.6%
Return on invested capital – 5.0% –
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.2x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.2x 2.0x -0.9x
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% 1.6% 1.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHIWCDPARE
Debt / assets 54.3% 57.4% 37.9%
Debt / equity 1.4x 1.6x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA – 6.7x –
Debt / FCF -7.6x 82.0x -27.3x
Liabilities / assets 60.0% 65.0% 45.9%
Equity / assets 40.0% 35.0% 54.1%
Interest coverage – 2.2x –
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHIWCDPARE
Dividend yield 6.6% 3.7% 6.6%
Net buyback yield -1.8% – –
Shareholder yield 4.7% 3.7% 6.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) 126.2% 81.3% -43.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) -47.3% 441.8% -126.5%
Dividend growth (1Y) 2.3% 4.1% -34.4%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 1.3% 3.8% -10.2%

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.

ConsensusHIWCDPARE
Forward P/E 26.7xFY2026 23.0xFY2026 27.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.14FY2026 $1.48FY2026 $1.56FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -21.4%FY2026 +10.4%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after -36.0% -5.4% -150.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $908.60MFY2026 $739.29MFY2026 $2.71BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.7%FY2026 +3.5%FY2026 -8.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -8.1% +10.5% -13.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHIWCDPARE
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 97.2%
Institutions holding 371 329 595
Change in shares held, QoQ +10.9% +0.5% +14.1%
Institutions buying 214 156 336
Institutions selling 102 108 191
Buyers to sellers 2.10 1.44 1.76

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.

HIWCDPARE
HIW 1.00 0.48 0.46
CDP 0.48 1.00 0.36
ARE 0.46 0.36 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HIW, CDP and ARE?

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) is the largest by market capitalisation: Highwoods Properties (HIW) $3.30B, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) $3.82B, Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) $6.96B.

Which stock is cheaper, HIW, CDP and ARE?

Highwoods Properties (HIW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Highwoods Properties (HIW) 19.8x, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) 23.3x, Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) -4.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) is cheapest (Highwoods Properties (HIW) 26.7x, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) 23.0x, Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) 27.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Copt Defense Properties (CDP) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Highwoods Properties (HIW) +3.0%, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) +4.5%, Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) -9.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Copt Defense Properties (CDP) has the highest net margin (Highwoods Properties (HIW) 19.9%, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) 20.9%, Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) -52.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Copt Defense Properties (CDP) returned the most: Highwoods Properties (HIW) +2.3%, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) +20.2%, Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) -44.0%. Over five years, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) compounded fastest (Highwoods Properties (HIW) -7.5%/yr, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) +4.6%/yr, Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) -26.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) has the highest dividend yield: Highwoods Properties (HIW) 0.07%, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) 0.04%, Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) 0.09%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) has been the steadiest (Highwoods Properties (HIW) 29.3%, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) 18.5%, Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) 50.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, HIW, CDP and ARE?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) leads on 7. 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.