Essex Property Trust, Inc. (ESS)

In May 2025, Essex Property Trust declared quarterly distributions. In June 2025, Raymond James Financial upgraded Essex Property Trust from "market perform" to "outperform" and set a $315.00 price target. In July 2025, the company announced its second-quarter 2025 earnings, reporting $4.03 earnings per share (EPS), beating analyst estimates, and revenue of $465.84 million, subsequently raising its full-year 2025 guidance, and Royal Bank of Canada raised its price objective for Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00. In August 2025, Piper Sandler downgraded Essex Property Trust from "overweight" to "neutral" and cut its target price from $355.00 to $275.00, and Morgan Stanley also cut its price objective from $304.00 to $285.00. In September 2025, Essex Property Trust declared quarterly distributions, BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating, Evercore ISI increased its target price from $279.00 to $283.00, and Wall Street Zen cut Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating. In October 2025, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Essex Property Trust to a "strong-buy" rating, and Barclays maintained an "equal-weight" recommendation. Overall, Essex Property Trust's stock has seen a decline of 12.63% from September 20, 2024, to September 19, 2025, with shares also declining 5.8% over the past three months (July-September 2025) and 6.3% year-to-date (as of September 22, 2025).

Demand for Essex Property Trust's apartment rentals generally follows seasonal patterns, with spring and summer being peak seasons due to favorable weather and the end of the school year, leading to heightened competition. Conversely, demand tends to be lower during the winter months and holidays (November to January). The U.S. apartment market showed resilience in the second quarter of 2025, with robust absorption of units, and while rent growth remained muted, occupancy climbed steadily. Northern California and Seattle markets have been outperforming, while Los Angeles has shown some softening, and overall, apartment demand was surprisingly strong in early 2025, with rent growth reaccelerating slightly after two years of sluggish trends.

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (ESS) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in the acquisition, development, redevelopment, and management of apartment communities, operating within the Real Estate sector and the REIT - Residential industry. The company's primary products are apartment homes and communities, with a portfolio comprising over 62,000 apartment homes across approximately 257 to 258 communities, focusing on owning high-quality properties in supply-constrained markets.

Essex Property Trust's geographic footprint is concentrated in selected West Coast markets of the United States, including Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area (Northern California), and the Seattle metropolitan area. As of September 2025, approximately 40% of its units are in Northern California, 40% in Southern California, and 20% in Seattle.

Essex Property Trust has maintained a positive brand reputation over the past year. In May 2024, the company published its 2023 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report, highlighting a GRESB score of 84 and a B score from CDP, and was named to Newsweek's List of Most Responsible Companies for a fourth consecutive year. In May 2025, Essex Property Trust was named a 2025-2026 Best Company to Work For by U.S. News & World Report, also earning recognition as a Best Company to Work For in Real Estate and Facilities Management and in the West. In June 2025, the company published its 2024 Sustainability and Impact Report, achieving a GRESB score of 86 and being named to Newsweek's List of Most Responsible Companies for a fifth consecutive year, also noting a decrease in Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG Emissions by approximately 12% compared to 2023.

Essex Property Trust's ownership is primarily institutional, with major institutional owners including Vanguard Group Inc., BlackRock, Inc., Cohen & Steers, Inc., and State Street Corp. Other significant institutional holders include Price T Rowe Associates Inc, Geode Capital Management, LLC, and Norges Bank Investment Management. Institutional investors typically hold the largest portion of shares, followed by mutual funds, individual investors, and company insiders. As of recent data, institutional shareholders own approximately 87.16% to 99.26% of the company's stock, while insiders own around 0.70% to 1.05%, and public companies and individual investors hold about 12.14%.