Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target to $262.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $268.00 to $262.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 2.70% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $271.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $290.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Monday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $305.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.63.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE:ESS traded up $2.92 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $255.11. 28,874 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 522,726. The firm has a market cap of $16.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 7.94 and a beta of 0.71. Essex Property Trust has a 52 week low of $238.46 and a 52 week high of $294.09. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $250.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $254.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $474.66 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 35.48% and a return on equity of 11.61%. During the same period in the prior year, the business 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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 16.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 6,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 445 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

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.