Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Downgraded by BNP Paribas Exane to “Neutral”

BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on ESS. UBS Group cut their target price on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $320.00 to $309.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. BNP Paribas lowered Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $355.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, August 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.17.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $266.11 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.82 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $243.85 and a one year high of $316.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $266.34 and its 200 day moving average is $277.63.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The business had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $466.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.94 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 3.890-3.990 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 15.800-16.020 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.64%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 300.0% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.