UBS Group Upgrades Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) to “Hold”

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) was upgraded by stock analysts at UBS Group to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $310.00 to $352.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $296.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.94.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $271.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $286.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $272.86. Essex Property Trust has a 52 week low of $238.46 and a 52 week high of $303.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.19, a PEG ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.69.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $2.62. The firm had revenue of $489.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.12 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 7.33%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.03 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.930-4.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 16.030-16.250 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 16.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,166,555,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,873,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $488,601,000 after purchasing an additional 22,835 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 995,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $240,989,000 after purchasing an additional 57,173 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 950,748 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $248,792,000 after purchasing an additional 29,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $230,690,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust that owns, operates, develops and redevelops multifamily residential communities. Its portfolio primarily consists of apartment homes, supported by property management, maintenance and resident services.

The company focuses on high-demand coastal markets on the West Coast, particularly Northern and Southern California and the Seattle metropolitan area in Washington. Essex’s properties are generally located near employment centers, transportation networks and other amenities, serving renters in major urban and suburban communities.

Founded in 1971, Essex Property Trust became a publicly traded real estate investment trust in 1994.