Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Issues Earnings Results

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05, Zacks reports. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $458.03 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. Essex Property Trust updated its Q2 2025 guidance to 3.900-4.020 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance to 15.560-16.060 EPS.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of ESS traded up $8.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $292.85. 413,258 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 399,797. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $288.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $290.72. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $243.85 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $18.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is 98.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last three months. 3.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $303.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $306.79.

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.