Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $283.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.28.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $264.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $264.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $276.67. Essex Property Trust has a 52 week low of $243.85 and a 52 week high of $316.29. The stock has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 0.81.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 43.51%.The firm had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $466.47 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.94 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 3.890-3.990 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 15.800-16.020 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESS. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth $653,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 10.0% in the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the first quarter worth about $705,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 133,886 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,045,000 after buying an additional 1,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $569,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Essex Property Trust

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.