Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Cut to “Neutral” at BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Raymond James Financial upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Wall Street Zen cut Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Piper Sandler lowered Essex Property Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $355.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.28.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:ESS opened at $267.08 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $243.85 and a 1-year high of $316.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $265.33 and a 200 day moving average of $277.49. The firm has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.82 and a beta of 0.82.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The business had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.94 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 3.890-3.990 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 15.800-16.020 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 82.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the second quarter worth about $34,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.