Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $289.5938.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ESS shares. Mizuho upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $275.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $294.00 to $284.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $282.00 price target (down from $304.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $280.00 to $268.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $267.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,054 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 288 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.3% in the second quarter. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. now owns 1,861 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 57.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 6,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,862,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $256.95 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $265.96. The stock has a market cap of $16.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.12 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $243.25 and a 1-year high of $316.29.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $473.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $472.11 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 45.46% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.91 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.930-4.030 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 15.890-15.990 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 78.12%.

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.