Essex Property Trust’s (ESS) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $290.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on ESS. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Barclays reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $292.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $273.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $275.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $283.87.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.4%

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $261.44 on Monday. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $243.25 and a 12 month high of $316.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $255.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $16.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.11, a PEG ratio of 8.25 and a beta of 0.74.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.00 by ($0.02). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 35.48% and a return on equity of 11.61%. The business had revenue of $479.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $474.66 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.92 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 15.690-16.190 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 3.890-4.010 EPS. Equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 98.75%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 26,904 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,040,000 after acquiring an additional 4,478 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 25.8% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,746 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,765,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 33,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,497,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

About Essex Property Trust

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.