Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:CDPYF) vs. Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Head to Head Survey

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) and Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:CDPYF) are both real estate companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and profitability.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Essex Property Trust and Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Essex Property Trust	$1.67 billion	9.41	$405.83 million	$6.31	38.80
Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A	$2.94	11.63

Essex Property Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust. Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Essex Property Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Essex Property Trust and Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Essex Property Trust	3	9	6	0	2.17
Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust	0	0	1	0	3.00

Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus price target of $243.74, suggesting a potential downside of 0.44%. Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust has a consensus price target of $59.25, suggesting a potential upside of 73.60%. Given Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust is more favorable than Essex Property Trust.

Dividends

Essex Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $9.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Essex Property Trust pays out 146.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust pays out 39.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Essex Property Trust has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years. Essex Property Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.5% of Essex Property Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 23.8% of Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 3.8% of Essex Property Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Essex Property Trust and Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Essex Property Trust	24.31%	7.10%	3.29%
Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Essex Property Trust beats Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc., an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.

About Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust

CAPREIT is Canada's largest publicly traded provider of quality rental housing. As at December 31, 2023, CAPREIT owns approximately 64,300 residential apartment suites, townhomes and manufactured home community sites that are well-located across Canada and the Netherlands, with approximately $16.5 billion of investment properties in Canada and Europe.