Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $286.9706.

Several research firms have weighed in on ESS. Barclays upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $272.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler raised Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $275.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $272.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $273.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $278.00 to $281.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total transaction of $167,670.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $669,003.30. This trade represents a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 57.5% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the third quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 6,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,862,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 445 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.2%

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $277.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 0.72. Essex Property Trust has a fifty-two week low of $238.46 and a fifty-two week high of $294.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $258.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.85.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.96 by ($2.31). The firm had revenue of $484.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $479.89 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.03% and a return on equity of 10.00%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.97 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. Analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 16.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.40%.

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.