MAA vs ESS Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Mid-America Apartment and Essex Property Trust by Sun Belt vs West Coast exposure, same-store revenue growth, supply risk, dividend yield, and analyst upside.
Use this Mid-America Apartment vs Essex Property comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
ESS holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. ESS has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+0.35% vs -14.12%), though MAA has the better forward P/E setup (40.54x vs 47.87x for ESS). ESS leads on both revenue growth (6.40%) and operating margin (35.17%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for MAA (+6.80%) than for ESS (-0.08%).
| Metric | MAA | ESS |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 36.6 | 37.9 |
| AI rank | #1521 | #1397 |
| Latest close | $131.57 | $293.07 |
| 1M return | -0.42% | +6.08% |
| 6M return | -2.81% | +13.93% |
| 1Y return | -14.12% | +0.35% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | MAA | ESS |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $8.61K (-13.9%) started 2025-07-23 | $10.02K (+0.2%) started 2025-07-23 |
| 5Y ago | $9.24K (-7.6%) started 2021-07-26 | $11.64K (+16.4%) started 2021-07-26 |
| 10Y ago | $23.72K (+137.2%) started 2016-07-25 | $23.83K (+138.3%) started 2016-07-25 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | MAA | ESS |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $15.87B | $20.19B |
| Trailing P/E | 40.29 | 32.99 |
| Forward P/E | 40.54 | 47.87 |
| Price/Sales | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenue | 9.59 | 13.14 |
| Analyst target | $142.00 | $292.69 |
| Target upside | +6.80% | -0.08% |
| Metric | MAA | ESS |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 0.80% | 6.40% |
| Earnings growth | -31.50% | -47.80% |
| EPS growth | -31.50% | -47.80% |
| FCF margin | +41.07% | +50.00% |
| Operating margin | 26.57% | 35.17% |
| Profit margin | 17.60% | 29.13% |
| ROIC proxy | 6.71% | 10.56% |
| Return on equity | 6.71% | 10.56% |
| Dividend yield | 4.60% | 3.54% |
| Beta | 0.73 | 0.71 |
| Debt/equity | 99.83 | 121.86 |
| Current ratio | 0.08 | 0.30 |
| Quick ratio | 0.04 | 0.06 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | MAA | ESS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | -13.85% | +0.17% |
| CAGR | -13.89% | +0.17% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.90 | -0.10 | |
| Max drawdown | 21.06% | 18.10% | |
| Max daily drop | 4.27% | 7.64% | |
| Max wkly drop | 7.68% | 11.46% | |
| 5Y | Growth | -19.68% | +1.08% |
| CAGR | -4.30% | +0.22% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.29 | -0.06 | |
| Max drawdown | 45.40% | 43.87% | |
| Max daily drop | 6.45% | 7.92% | |
| Max wkly drop | 10.45% | 16.65% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +67.21% | +72.02% |
| CAGR | +5.28% | +5.58% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.15 | 0.17 | |
| Max drawdown | 45.40% | 44.84% | |
| Max daily drop | 16.71% | 18.88% | |
| Max wkly drop | 30.56% | 28.80% |
| Category | MAA | ESS |
|---|---|---|
| Company | MAA | ESS |
| Sector | Real Estate | Real Estate |
| Industry | N/A | N/A |
| Core business | N/A | N/A |
| Investor focus | N/A | N/A |
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