Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Stock Has Average Target Price of $303.04

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $303.04.

ESS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $291.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $293.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore set a $299.00 price target on Essex Property Trust in a report on Monday, September 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,350 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 16.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,863 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 79.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 637 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 92.6% during the third quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.9% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,648 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $271.80 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $278.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $275.02. The stock has a market cap of $17.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.27, a PEG ratio of 8.06 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $238.46 and a one year high of $303.35.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $2.62. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 7.33%. The business had revenue of $489.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.03 earnings per share. 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, equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 16.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $2.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 161.12%.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust that owns, operates, develops, redevelops and acquires multifamily communities. The company’s portfolio consists primarily of apartment homes, with related services and amenities designed for residential renters.

Founded in 1971, Essex focuses on markets along the West Coast of the United States. Its properties are concentrated in Southern California, Northern California and the Seattle metropolitan area, where the company seeks to benefit from employment growth, population trends and demand for rental housing.

Essex Property Trust is headquartered in San Mateo, California, and its common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ESS.