Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $283.8667.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ESS. UBS Group lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $273.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Evercore lowered their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $271.00 and set a “cautious” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $275.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,690,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 973.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 743,954 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $199,127,000 after buying an additional 674,617 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 473.5% in the 3rd quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 516,756 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $138,315,000 after buying an additional 426,650 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 48.3% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,056,887 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $299,522,000 after acquiring an additional 344,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,679,607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $439,520,000 after acquiring an additional 301,349 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 2.8%

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $255.30 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.46 billion, a PE ratio of 24.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.03. Essex Property Trust has a fifty-two week low of $243.25 and a fifty-two week high of $316.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $255.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.09.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.00 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $479.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $474.66 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 11.61% and a net margin of 35.48%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.92 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 15.690-16.190 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 3.890-4.010 EPS. Research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.57. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 98.75%.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc (NYSE: ESS) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on market-rate apartment communities and delivers a full suite of property services including leasing, resident services, asset management, and capital improvement programs designed to preserve and enhance long?term property values.

Essex concentrates its portfolio in West Coast markets, with a significant presence in California and the Pacific Northwest.