Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Receives $282.00 Average PT from Analysts

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $282.00.

ESS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $305.00 to $280.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $271.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target 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.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.6%

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $243.53 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $252.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $257.33. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $239.96 and a 1-year high of $310.10. The company has a market cap of $15.70 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.61% and a net margin of 35.48%.The business had revenue of $479.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $474.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $2.59 dividend. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.57. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.52%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $230,690,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 973.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 743,954 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $199,127,000 after buying an additional 674,617 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 473.5% in the 3rd quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 516,756 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $138,315,000 after acquiring an additional 426,650 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,056,887 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $299,522,000 after acquiring an additional 344,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,679,607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $439,520,000 after acquiring an additional 301,349 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.