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

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price target trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $268.00 to $262.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ESS. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $271.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $278.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $305.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $278.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.63.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $255.52 on Thursday. Essex Property Trust has a 12-month low of $238.46 and a 12-month high of $294.09. The company has a market capitalization of $16.48 billion, a PE ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.00 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $250.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.86.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.00 by ($0.02). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 35.48% and a return on equity of 11.61%. The business had revenue of $479.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $474.66 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.92 EPS. 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 16.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $2.59 dividend. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.57. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 120.0% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 176 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

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.