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

Key Points

• Wells Fargo cut its price target for Essex Property Trust from $268 to $262 and maintained an "equal weight" rating, implying only about a 2.7% upside from the prior close.
• The sell-side consensus on ESS is a "Hold" with an average target of $281.63 (four Buy ratings vs. fourteen Hold ratings), reflecting modest analyst enthusiasm.
• Essex reported Q4 EPS of $3.98, missing estimates by $0.02 while beating revenue at $479.63M, and issued FY 2026 guidance of 15.69–16.19 EPS.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $268.00 to $262.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target indicates a potential upside of 2.70% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on ESS. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Essex Property Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $305.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $278.00 price target on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $281.63.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Essex Property Trust stock traded up $2.92 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $255.11. 28,874 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 522,726. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $250.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $254.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.45 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 7.94 and a beta of 0.71. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $238.46 and a one year high of $294.09. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 11.61% and a net margin of 35.48%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.92 earnings per share. 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, sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 16.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 814 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 57.5% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 115 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 913 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the third quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 6,957 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,862,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 445 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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