Analysts Set Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Price Target at $289.59

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $289.4063.

Several research analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $282.00 price objective (down previously from $304.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $294.00 to $284.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $275.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $273.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $271.00 and set a “cautious” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESS. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 227.0% in the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 4,123 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,264,000 after buying an additional 2,862 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 100,209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,497,000 after buying an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 834.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 62,954 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,300,000 after buying an additional 56,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 23.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 81,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,124,000 after buying an additional 15,456 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $256.93 on Friday. Essex Property Trust has a 52 week low of $243.25 and a 52 week high of $316.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $258.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.27. The company has a market cap of $16.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $473.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.11 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 45.46%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.91 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.930-4.030 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 15.890-15.990 EPS. Research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.12%.

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.