Analysts Set Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Price Target at $292.53

Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $292.5313.

A number of research firms have weighed in on ESS. UBS Group decreased 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler lowered Essex Property Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE ESS opened at $252.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Essex Property Trust has a fifty-two week low of $243.25 and a fifty-two week high of $316.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $261.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $271.45. The stock has a market cap of $16.27 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 0.82.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $473.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.11 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 45.46% and a return on equity of 14.70%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.91 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.930-4.030 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 15.890-15.990 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,440,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,200,675,000 after purchasing an additional 87,117 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 26.7% in the 1st quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 75,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,149,000 after buying an additional 15,912 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 12,050.0% in the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 9,636 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,731,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 45,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,821,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

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.