Essex Property Trust (ESS) – Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have updated their recommendations and price targets on shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS) in the last few weeks:

• 2/19/2025 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $302.00 to $304.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 2/10/2025 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by analysts at Evercore ISI from $297.00 to $302.00. They now have an “in-line” rating on the stock.
• 2/6/2025 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $302.00 to $315.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 2/6/2025 – Essex Property Trust had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at JMP Securities.
• 1/24/2025 – Essex Property Trust had its price target lowered by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $314.00 to $305.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 1/24/2025 – Essex Property Trust had its price target lowered by analysts at Barclays PLC from $316.00 to $302.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 1/21/2025 – Essex Property Trust was upgraded by analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a $310.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $308.00.
• 1/16/2025 – Essex Property Trust had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at JMP Securities.
• 1/13/2025 – Essex Property Trust was upgraded by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating. They now have a $310.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $323.00.
• 1/6/2025 – Essex Property Trust had its price target lowered by analysts at Mizuho from $325.00 to $300.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $298.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a PE ratio of 25.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $284.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $293.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $225.40 and a 12-month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 84.92%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $471,258,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $212,583,000 after acquiring an additional 633,200 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 56.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $321,928,000 after acquiring an additional 404,892 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 154.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $131,282,000 after acquiring an additional 269,923 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 570,786 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $162,925,000 after purchasing an additional 222,713 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

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.