Advertisement
EQR vs ESS
Which Stock Would AI Choose? Equity Residential (EQR) vs. Essex Property Trust (ESS) Stock Comparison
Key Takeaways
- Both EQR and ESS are leading multifamily real estate investment trusts (REITs) benefiting from easing apartment supply pressures in recent market activity.
- EQR offers a lower trailing P/E ratio of 21.2 compared to ESS's 24.6, alongside a higher dividend yield of 4.5% versus 4.0%.
- Recent occupancy rates remain robust, with EQR at 96.3% in its latest quarter and similar stability for ESS, supporting NOI (net operating income) growth outlook.
- EQR edges out in year-to-date performance at 1.1% gain versus ESS's 0.4%, amid broader REIT sector recovery.
- Larger market cap for EQR ($23.3B vs. $16.5B) provides greater scale and diversification across U.S. markets.
- Both stocks trade below analyst one-year targets, signaling potential upside as supply dynamics improve.
Introduction
Equity Residential (EQR) and Essex Property Trust (ESS) stand out as premier multifamily REITs, owning and managing apartment communities amid evolving U.S. housing demand. This comparison suits income-focused investors and traders eyeing the residential real estate sector, where factors like occupancy trends, supply constraints, and interest rate sensitivity drive relative performance. With both preparing for first-quarter earnings amid signs of stabilizing rents and easing new supply, understanding their business models, valuations, and momentum helps assess positioning in the current market environment. Traders may find opportunities in their high dividend yields and potential for REIT sector rotation.
EQR Overview and Recent Performance
Equity Residential (EQR), an S&P 500 REIT, owns over 80,000 apartment units across premium urban and high-density suburban markets like New York, Boston, and San Francisco. In recent market activity, the stock has hovered around $62, within a 52-week range of $57.57 to $72.40, reflecting resilience amid broader REIT pressures. Year-to-date gains of about 1% outperform peers slightly, buoyed by strong Q4 2025 results showing 96.3% physical occupancy and positive net operating income guidance for 2026. Sentiment has improved with easing apartment completions, a $56 million lawsuit settlement, and expectations for funds from operations (FFO) growth in upcoming earnings. Dividend hikes further support income appeal, though elevated interest rates cap upside.
ESS Overview and Recent Performance
Essex Property Trust (ESS) specializes in apartment properties concentrated on the West Coast, particularly Northern and Southern California, with around 62,000 units in coastal markets. The stock trades near $255, in a 52-week range of $238 to $294, with modest year-to-date returns of 0.4% amid sector headwinds. Recent performance reflects steady same-store revenue growth from Q4 2025, alongside core FFO per share alignment with guidance, fostering optimism for Q1 results. High occupancy and rent stability in key markets have bolstered sentiment, despite regional supply challenges. The firm's focus on premium assets positions it well as national supply eases, though geographic concentration introduces volatility relative to more diversified peers.
Trending AI Robots
Tickeron’s Trending AI Robots page showcases 25 top-performing AI trading bots curated from over 350 available models that trade thousands of tickers across stocks, ETFs, and crypto. These bots employ diverse AI/ML strategies, including single, multi, and double agents with timeframes from 5 minutes to 60 minutes, incorporating risk controls like take-profit/stop-loss corridors. Performance highlights include annualized returns from 15% to 167%, win rates of 48% to 88%, profit factors up to 11.7, and profits ranging from $1,500 to $48,000. Focused on hot sectors like semiconductors and leveraged ETFs, they adapt to current volatility. Explore these bots to potentially enhance your trading with data-driven signals tailored to today’s markets.
Head-to-Head Comparison
Both EQR and ESS operate multifamily REITs emphasizing high-barrier urban markets, generating revenue from rents and delivering yields above 4%. EQR’s broader national footprint reduces regional risk compared to ESS’s West Coast emphasis, which offers higher growth potential but exposure to local economic swings. Valuation-wise, EQR appears more attractive with a lower price-to-book (2.12 vs. 2.97) and superior ROE (10% vs. 12.2%), alongside better profitability margins. Recent momentum favors EQR slightly, with low betas (0.74 vs. 0.73) indicating similar stability. Growth drivers include easing supply for both, but EQR’s scale supports more aggressive buybacks. Market sentiment tilts positive on residential demand rebound, though interest rates remain a shared risk factor.
Tickeron AI Verdict
Tickeron’s AI currently favors EQR over ESS, based on stronger relative valuation multiples, higher dividend yield, modest outperformance in recent trends, and greater portfolio diversification. While both exhibit stability and catalysts from supply normalization, EQR’s positioning suggests higher probability of near-term outperformance amid improving multifamily fundamentals.
Disclaimer
The information on this webpage is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice, a recommendation to purchase or sell any security, or an offer or solicitation related to investments. It does not consider your personal financial situation, goals, or risk profile, and all investing carries inherent risks, including the possibility of losing your entire investment. For more details, please review our full disclaimer. Disclaimers and Limitations
To compare these two companies we present long-term analysis, their fundamental ratings and make comparative short-term technical analysis which are presented below. The conclusion is EQR is a Hold and ESS is a Hold.
Long-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a long-term outlook for a ticker by using Fundamental Analysis (FA) ratings. The rating of 1 to 100, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, is divided into thirds. The first third (a green rating of 1-33) indicates that the ticker is undervalued; the second third (a grey number between 34 and 66) means that the ticker is valued fairly; and the last third (red number of 67 to 100) reflects that the ticker is undervalued. We use an FA Score to show how many ratings show the ticker to be undervalued (green) or overvalued (red).
EQR’s FA Score shows that 1 FA rating(s) are green whileESS’s FA Score has 1 green FA rating(s).
- EQR’s FA Score: 1 green, 4 red.
- ESS’s FA Score: 1 green, 4 red.
Short-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a short-term outlook for a ticker by using Technical Analysis (TA) indicators. We use Odds of Success as the percentage of outcomes which confirm successful trade signals in the past.
If the Odds of Success (the likelihood of the continuation of a trend) for each indicator are greater than 50%, then the generated signal is confirmed. A green percentage from 90% to 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bullish trend. A red percentage from 90% - 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bearish trend. All grey percentages are below 50% and are considered not to confirm the trend signal.
EQR’s TA Score shows that 4 TA indicator(s) are bullish while ESS’s TA Score has 4 bullish TA indicator(s).
- EQR’s TA Score: 4 bullish, 5 bearish.
- ESS’s TA Score: 4 bullish, 5 bearish.
Price Growth
EQR (@Media Conglomerates) experienced а -3.84% price change this week, while ESS (@Media Conglomerates) price change was -2.45% for the same time period.
The average weekly price growth across all stocks in the @Media Conglomerates industry was -2.93%. For the same industry, the average monthly price growth was -0.79%, and the average quarterly price growth was -0.07%.
Reported Earning Dates
EQR is expected to report earnings on Jul 28, 2026.
ESS is expected to report earnings on Jul 23, 2026.
Industries' Descriptions
@Media Conglomerates (-2.93% weekly)Companies that operate in these three (or more) areas: broadcasting, cable TV, publishing and movies/entertainment. The companies usually have a large share in these markets. Walt Disney Co . is an example.
| EQR | ESS | EQR / ESS | |
| Capitalization | 24B | 17.6B | 136% |
| EBITDA | 2.32B | 1.48B | 157% |
| Gain YTD | 4.039 | 6.775 | 60% |
| P/E Ratio | 25.63 | 30.79 | 83% |
| Revenue | 3.11B | 1.91B | 163% |
| Total Cash | 34.7M | 135M | 26% |
| Total Debt | 8.64B | 6.86B | 126% |
EQR | ESS | ||
|---|---|---|---|
OUTLOOK RATING 1..100 | 60 | 66 | |
VALUATION overvalued / fair valued / undervalued 1..100 | 31 Undervalued | 28 Undervalued | |
PROFIT vs RISK RATING 1..100 | 93 | 83 | |
SMR RATING 1..100 | 77 | 70 | |
PRICE GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 52 | 34 | |
P/E GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 55 | 40 | |
SEASONALITY SCORE 1..100 | 85 | 75 |
Tickeron ratings are formulated such that a rating of 1 designates the most successful stocks in a given industry, while a rating of 100 points to the least successful stocks for that industry.
ESS's Valuation (28) in the Real Estate Investment Trusts industry is in the same range as EQR (31). This means that ESS’s stock grew similarly to EQR’s over the last 12 months.
ESS's Profit vs Risk Rating (83) in the Real Estate Investment Trusts industry is in the same range as EQR (93). This means that ESS’s stock grew similarly to EQR’s over the last 12 months.
ESS's SMR Rating (70) in the Real Estate Investment Trusts industry is in the same range as EQR (77). This means that ESS’s stock grew similarly to EQR’s over the last 12 months.
ESS's Price Growth Rating (34) in the Real Estate Investment Trusts industry is in the same range as EQR (52). This means that ESS’s stock grew similarly to EQR’s over the last 12 months.
ESS's P/E Growth Rating (40) in the Real Estate Investment Trusts industry is in the same range as EQR (55). This means that ESS’s stock grew similarly to EQR’s over the last 12 months.
| EQR | ESS | |
|---|---|---|
| RSI ODDS (%) | 3 days ago 60% | 3 days ago 60% |
| Stochastic ODDS (%) | 3 days ago 62% | 3 days ago 64% |
| Momentum ODDS (%) | 3 days ago 52% | 3 days ago 44% |
| MACD ODDS (%) | 3 days ago 48% | 3 days ago 44% |
| TrendWeek ODDS (%) | 3 days ago 53% | 3 days ago 47% |
| TrendMonth ODDS (%) | 3 days ago 52% | 3 days ago 54% |
| Advances ODDS (%) | 16 days ago 51% | 16 days ago 51% |
| Declines ODDS (%) | 3 days ago 52% | 3 days ago 45% |
| BollingerBands ODDS (%) | 3 days ago 54% | 3 days ago 48% |
| Aroon ODDS (%) | 3 days ago 41% | 3 days ago 43% |
Advertisement
EQR and
Correlation & Price change
A.I.dvisor indicates that over the last year, EQR has been closely correlated with AVB. These tickers have moved in lockstep 94% of the time. This A.I.-generated data suggests there is a high statistical probability that if EQR jumps, then AVB could also see price increases.
ESS and
Correlation & Price change
A.I.dvisor indicates that over the last year, ESS has been closely correlated with AVB. These tickers have moved in lockstep 90% of the time. This A.I.-generated data suggests there is a high statistical probability that if ESS jumps, then AVB could also see price increases.