MAA vs CPT vs ESS Stock Comparison

Mid America Apartment Communities, Camden Property Trust and Essex Property Trust Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CPT Camden Property Trust
$99.49 +1.1% 1M -1.9% 1Y
Market cap
$10.23B
P/E
31.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$13.12M
Div. yield
–
Residential REITs Real Estate
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Camden Property Trust leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Camden Property Trust 4, Essex Property Trust 3, Mid America Apartment Communities 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMAACPTESSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $13.52B $10.23B $16.77B ESS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 35.2x 31.3x 40.5x CPT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 32.7x 96.6x 50.2x MAA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +1.0% +56.8% +4.7% CPT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 2,486.2% 21.5% CPT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 5.3x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.04% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -10.7% -1.9% +2.1% ESS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -10.6%/yr -9.4%/yr -5.1%/yr ESS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 19.8% 20.0% 20.6% MAA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 50/100 46/100 CPT

Percentile Scorecard

MAACPTESS

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

AxisMAACPTESS
Valuation 38 #91 of 145 11 #129 of 145 15 #123 of 145
Growth 14 #123 of 142 73 #39 of 142 35 #93 of 142
Profitability 78 #30 of 135 47 #72 of 135 93 #10 of 135
Financial Health – 35 #89 of 136 50 #69 of 136
Shareholder Returns 65 #47 of 131 86 #19 of 131 39 #80 of 131
Overall 49 50 46
  • MAA ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • CPT ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs
  • ESS ranked among 149 companies in Property REITs

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMAACPTESSSPY
1 month -1.2%+1.1%-4.2% +0.9%
3 months -15.0%-14.5%-11.9% +5.9%
6 months -10.0%-5.5%-1.3% +8.5%
Year to date -16.0%-9.6%-0.1% +13.3%
1 year -10.7%-1.9%+2.1% +12.4%
3 years -0.7%+18.5%+26.6% +88.1%
3 years, per year -0.2%+5.8%+8.2% +23.5%
5 years -42.8%-39.0%-23.1% +68.2%
5 years, per year -10.6%-9.4%-5.1% +11.0%
10 years +29.2%+25.4%+25.0% +263.4%
10 years, per year +2.6%+2.3%+2.3% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureMAACPTESSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 19.8%20.0%20.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.2%20.4%22.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.040.090.11 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.54-0.100.10 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -50.2%-53.0%-45.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -17.9%-15.3%-12.3% -0.9%
52-week high $142.19$117.53$298.33 $779.14
52-week low $114.20$95.82$239.61 $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.

MultipleMAACPTESS
P/E now vs peer median 35.3xmedian 25.8x 31.2xmedian 25.8x 40.6xmedian 25.8x
P/S now vs peer median 6.1xmedian 4.0x 762.3xmedian 4.0x 8.7xmedian 4.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.2x —median 14.2x 18.7xmedian 14.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 29.0xmedian 23.0x -47.3xmedian 23.0x 28.9xmedian 23.0x
P/B now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 1.3x 2.6xmedian 1.3x 3.1xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median -2.75median 1.91 1.67median 1.91 -5.06median 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 monthsMAACPTESS
Revenue $2.22B $13.12M $1.93B
Operating income – – $627.10M
Net income $394.48M $336.62M $437.61M
Free cash flow – -$211.62M $580.66M
EPS (diluted) $3.31 $3.19 $6.44
Cash & equivalents $25.69M $44.72M $58.33M
Total debt – $4.85B $26.96B
Shares (diluted) 116.14M 102.36M 64.28M
Enterprise value $13.52B $10.09B $16.53B

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
MetricMAACPTESS
P/E 35.3x 31.2x 40.6x
P/FCF 29.0x -47.3x 28.9x
P/Operating cash flow – 12.4x 15.0x
P/S 6.1x 762.3x 8.7x
P/B 2.5x 2.6x 3.1x
P/Tangible book 2.5x 2.6x 3.1x
EV/EBITDA – – 18.7x
EV/EBIT – – 37.4x
EV/Revenue 6.1x 1,128x 12.2x
EV/FCF – -70.0x 40.4x
EV/Operating cash flow – 18.3x 21.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -2.75 1.67 -5.06

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMAACPTESS
Revenue growth (1Y) 1.0% 56.8% 4.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 1.4% 66.5% 5.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – – -35.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – -2.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -30.8% 108.1% -49.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -13.1% 16.0% -7.9%
EPS growth (1Y) -29.9% 123.5% -48.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -12.8% 18.7% -8.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 1.8% 8.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 1.1% 5.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -377.3% 344.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -36.7% -3.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMAACPTESS
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin – – 64.9%
Operating margin – – 32.5%
Pretax margin – – 18.9%
Net margin – 2,486% 21.5%
FCF margin – -1,613% 30.1%
Operating cash flow margin – 6,154% 58.0%
Return on equity 7.2% 8.4% 7.9%
Return on assets 3.3% 3.6% 3.4%
Return on invested capital – – –
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.0x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 2.4x 2.6x
Stock comp / revenue – 128.3% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMAACPTESS
Debt / assets – 51.3% 51.9%
Debt / equity – 1.3x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 5.3x
Debt / FCF – -22.9x 11.5x
Liabilities / assets 54.8% 59.0% 57.5%
Equity / assets 45.1% 41.0% 42.5%
Interest coverage – – 2.4x
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMAACPTESS
Dividend yield 5.2% 4.3% 4.0%
Net buyback yield – 6.8% 0.4%
Shareholder yield 5.2% 11.0% 4.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 151.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 114.2%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 4.0%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 4.8%

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.

ConsensusMAACPTESS
Forward P/E 32.7xFY2026 96.6xFY2026 50.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.57FY2026 $1.03FY2026 $5.21FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -5.6%FY2026 -70.9%FY2026 -49.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -9.0% -8.7% +29.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.29BFY2026 $1.60BFY2026 $2.05BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.8%FY2026 +2.1%FY2026 +9.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.5% -8.2% -7.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMAACPTESS
Held by institutions 97.1% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 771 575 630
Change in shares held, QoQ +8.2% -0.4% +4.7%
Institutions buying 395 267 348
Institutions selling 262 213 183
Buyers to sellers 1.51 1.25 1.90

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.

MAACPTESS
MAA 1.00 0.92 0.79
CPT 0.92 1.00 0.81
ESS 0.79 0.81 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MAA, CPT and ESS?

Essex Property Trust (ESS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) $13.52B, Camden Property Trust (CPT) $10.23B, Essex Property Trust (ESS) $16.77B.

Which stock is cheaper, MAA, CPT and ESS?

Camden Property Trust (CPT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) 35.2x, Camden Property Trust (CPT) 31.3x, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 40.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) is cheapest (Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) 32.7x, Camden Property Trust (CPT) 96.6x, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 50.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Camden Property Trust (CPT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) +1.0%, Camden Property Trust (CPT) +56.8%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) +4.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Camden Property Trust (CPT) has the highest net margin (Camden Property Trust (CPT) 2,486.2%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 21.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Essex Property Trust (ESS) returned the most: Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) -10.7%, Camden Property Trust (CPT) -1.9%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) +2.1%. Over five years, Essex Property Trust (ESS) compounded fastest (Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) -10.6%/yr, Camden Property Trust (CPT) -9.4%/yr, Essex Property Trust (ESS) -5.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) 0.00%, Camden Property Trust (CPT) 0.00%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 0.04%. Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) and Camden Property Trust (CPT) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) has been the steadiest (Mid America Apartment Communities (MAA) 19.8%, Camden Property Trust (CPT) 20.0%, Essex Property Trust (ESS) 20.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MAA, CPT and ESS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Camden Property Trust (CPT) leads on 4. 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.