HIW vs CDP vs DEI Stock Comparison

Highwoods Properties, Copt Defense Properties and Douglas Emmett Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CDP Copt Defense Properties
$33.94 +0.1% 1M +20.1% 1Y
Market cap
$3.85B
P/E
23.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$784.18M
Div. yield
3.73%
Office REITs Real Estate
7 wins
DEI Douglas Emmett Inc
$10.06 +2.5% 1M -24.5% 1Y
Market cap
$1.69B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$1.01B
Div. yield
7.55%
Office REITs Real Estate
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Copt Defense Properties leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Copt Defense Properties 7, Highwoods Properties 3, Douglas Emmett 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHIWCDPDEILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.29B $3.85B $1.69B CDP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.8x 23.3x -73.7x HIW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.2x 22.9x — CDP
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.4% +4.5% +0.8% HIW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 21.7% 20.9% -2.3% HIW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 5.0% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 6.7x 23.3x CDP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 6.70% 3.73% 7.55% DEI
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +0.9% +20.1% -24.5% CDP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.1%/yr +4.3%/yr -21.1%/yr CDP
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 29.3% 18.5% 30.9% CDP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 49/100 31/100 CDP

Percentile Scorecard

HIWCDPDEI

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

AxisHIWCDPDEI
Valuation 55 #66 of 145 48 #76 of 145 65 #51 of 145
Growth 36 #90 of 141 61 #56 of 141 6 #132 of 141
Profitability 63 #50 of 134 78 #30 of 134 20 #108 of 134
Financial Health 31 #96 of 138 26 #102 of 138 16 #116 of 138
Shareholder Returns 58 #56 of 131 33 #88 of 131 49 #67 of 131
Overall 49 49 31
  • HIW ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • CDP ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • DEI ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodHIWCDPDEISPY
1 month -0.9%+0.1%+2.5% -0.2%
3 months -11.3%-11.2%-16.3% +3.9%
6 months +19.7%+5.8%-9.5% +8.2%
Year to date +15.5%+22.1%-8.5% +12.9%
1 year +0.9%+20.1%-24.5% +12.3%
3 years +67.6%+47.8%-9.6% +87.4%
3 years, per year +18.8%+13.9%-3.3% +23.3%
5 years -34.3%+23.3%-69.3% +67.9%
5 years, per year -8.1%+4.3%-21.1% +10.9%
10 years -39.0%+26.1%-72.0% +261.1%
10 years, per year -4.8%+2.3%-11.9% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureHIWCDPDEISPY
Volatility, 1Y 29.3%18.5%30.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 32.0%16.9%30.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.550.110.62 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.031.09-0.79 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -62.9%-26.0%-75.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.3%-11.5%-24.5% -1.2%
52-week high $34.39$38.34$13.32 $779.14
52-week low $20.58$27.32$9.18 $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.

MultipleHIWCDPDEI
P/E now vs peer median 17.8xmedian 26.3x 23.3xmedian 26.3x -73.7xmedian 26.3x
P/S now vs peer median 3.9xmedian 4.0x 4.9xmedian 4.0x 1.7xmedian 4.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.4x 16.7xmedian 14.4x 30.6xmedian 14.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median -9.0xmedian 23.3x 121.7xmedian 23.3x -22.4xmedian 23.3x
P/B now vs peer median 1.3xmedian 1.3x 2.4xmedian 1.3x 0.5xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median 1.89median 1.91 -4.29median 1.91 2.18median 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 monthsHIWCDPDEI
Revenue $851.95M $784.18M $1.01B
Gross profit – $754.22M $636.52M
Operating income – $207.72M -$179.54M
Net income $193.92M $171.84M -$55.59M
Free cash flow -$366.24M $31.63M -$75.33M
EPS (diluted) $1.65 $1.43 $-0.14
Cash & equivalents $279.21M $24.16M $354.96M
Total debt $3.51B $2.59B $5.72B
Shares (diluted) 112.32M 114.90M 167.49M
Enterprise value $3.00B $3.55B $1.90B

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
MetricHIWCDPDEI
P/E 17.8x 23.3x -73.7x
P/FCF -9.0x 121.7x -22.4x
P/Operating cash flow 8.7x 11.4x 4.4x
P/S 3.9x 4.9x 1.7x
P/B 1.3x 2.4x 0.5x
P/Tangible book 1.4x 2.4x 0.5x
EV/EBITDA – 16.7x 30.6x
EV/EBIT – 30.9x -39.3x
EV/Revenue 7.7x 8.2x 7.0x
EV/FCF -17.8x 202.9x -93.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 17.2x 19.0x 18.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.89 -4.29 2.18

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHIWCDPDEI
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.4% 4.5% 0.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.5% 4.1% -0.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 7.6% 0.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 7.4% -1.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 19.5% -4.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 28.6% -8.3%
Net income growth (1Y) 49.5% 14.4% -267.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 11.2% -4.4% -45.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 46.0% 12.2% -160.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 9.4% -5.4% -33.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 4.5% 3.5% -1.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.6% 8.0% -7.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -176.2% -17.2% -134.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -66.8% 31.7% -31.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHIWCDPDEI
Gross margin – 96.2% 63.2%
EBITDA margin – 49.1% 22.9%
Operating margin – 26.5% -17.8%
Pretax margin – 21.5% -45.0%
Net margin 21.7% 20.9% -2.3%
FCF margin -43.0% 4.0% -7.5%
Operating cash flow margin 44.5% 43.0% 38.3%
Return on equity 7.5% 10.9% -2.0%
Return on assets 3.0% 3.8% -0.7%
Return on invested capital – 5.0% –
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.2x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x 2.0x -6.9x
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% 1.6% 2.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHIWCDPDEI
Debt / assets 54.5% 57.4% 59.9%
Debt / equity 1.4x 1.6x 1.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – 6.7x 23.3x
Debt / FCF -9.6x 82.0x -76.0x
Liabilities / assets 60.2% 65.0% 63.2%
Equity / assets 39.8% 35.0% 36.8%
Interest coverage – 2.2x -0.7x
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHIWCDPDEI
Dividend yield 6.7% 3.7% 7.6%
Net buyback yield -0.4% – –
Shareholder yield 6.3% 3.7% 7.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) 113.6% 81.3% -228.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) -60.1% 441.8% -169.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) 2.3% 4.1% 0.0%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 1.5% 3.8% -8.3%

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.

ConsensusHIWCDPDEI
Forward P/E 26.2xFY2026 22.9xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $1.14FY2026 $1.48FY2026 $-0.12FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -21.4%FY2026 +10.4%FY2026 -233.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -36.0% -5.4% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $908.60MFY2026 $739.29MFY2026 $1.09BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.7%FY2026 +3.5%FY2026 +9.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -8.1% +10.5% -6.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHIWCDPDEI
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 371 329 283
Change in shares held, QoQ +10.9% +0.5% +5.5%
Institutions buying 214 156 171
Institutions selling 102 108 77
Buyers to sellers 2.10 1.44 2.22

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.

HIWCDPDEI
HIW 1.00 0.48 0.68
CDP 0.48 1.00 0.49
DEI 0.68 0.49 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HIW, CDP and DEI?

Copt Defense Properties (CDP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Highwoods Properties (HIW) $3.29B, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) $3.85B, Douglas Emmett (DEI) $1.69B.

Which stock is cheaper, HIW, CDP and DEI?

Highwoods Properties (HIW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Highwoods Properties (HIW) 17.8x, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) 23.3x, Douglas Emmett (DEI) -73.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) is cheapest (Highwoods Properties (HIW) 26.2x, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) 22.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Highwoods Properties (HIW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Highwoods Properties (HIW) +5.4%, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) +4.5%, Douglas Emmett (DEI) +0.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Highwoods Properties (HIW) has the highest net margin (Highwoods Properties (HIW) 21.7%, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) 20.9%, Douglas Emmett (DEI) -2.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Copt Defense Properties (CDP) returned the most: Highwoods Properties (HIW) +0.9%, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) +20.1%, Douglas Emmett (DEI) -24.5%. Over five years, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) compounded fastest (Highwoods Properties (HIW) -8.1%/yr, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) +4.3%/yr, Douglas Emmett (DEI) -21.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Douglas Emmett (DEI) has the highest dividend yield: Highwoods Properties (HIW) 6.70%, Copt Defense Properties (CDP) 3.73%, Douglas Emmett (DEI) 7.55%.

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%, Douglas Emmett (DEI) 30.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.