Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reissued their overweight rating on shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $290.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on ESS. Barclays reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $292.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Essex Property Trust from $280.00 to $268.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $278.00 price objective on Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $282.00 price objective (down from $304.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $305.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $283.87.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.1%

ESS opened at $257.85 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $255.93 and a 200-day moving average of $259.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a P/E/G ratio of 6.21 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by ($0.02). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 11.61% and a net margin of 35.48%.The company had revenue of $479.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $474.66 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 23,136 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,193,000 after buying an additional 2,395 shares during the last quarter. Barings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the second quarter valued at $829,000. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 12,050.0% in the second quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth about $1,636,000. Finally, GAM Holding AG acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth about $2,146,000. 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.