Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Essex Property Trust, with 10 buy ratings, 10 holds, one sell and one strong buy among 22 analysts. The average 12-month price target is $303.04, above the reported share price of $272.10.
• Essex reported quarterly EPS of $4.08, significantly exceeding the $1.46 consensus estimate, while revenue of $489.05 million also topped expectations. Analysts forecast full-year 2026 EPS of approximately $16.12.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $2.59 per share, equivalent to $10.36 annually and a 3.8% yield. Institutional investors hold 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-two research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $303.04.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ESS. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $310.00 to $352.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Mizuho reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $295.00 target price (down from $308.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $292.75 price target on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 523.1% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 162 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 265 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of ESS stock opened at $272.10 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $280.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $274.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $238.46 and a 1-year high of $303.35. The firm has a market cap of $17.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.32, a PEG ratio of 7.97 and a beta of 0.70.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $2.62. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 7.33%. The firm had revenue of $489.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.03 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.930-4.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 16.030-16.250 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust will post 16.12 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is presently 161.12%.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust that owns, operates, develops, redevelops and acquires multifamily communities. The company's portfolio consists primarily of apartment homes, with related services and amenities designed for residential renters.

Founded in 1971, Essex focuses on markets along the West Coast of the United States. Its properties are concentrated in Southern California, Northern California and the Seattle metropolitan area, where the company seeks to benefit from employment growth, population trends and demand for rental housing.

Essex Property Trust is headquartered in San Mateo, California, and its common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ESS.

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