Stocks · Real Estate · REIT - Residential
Essex Property Trust, Inc. ESS
$268.65 -0.32% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $17.26B
High qualityStrong trend
Next earnings report: Oct 27, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Operating margin narrowed to 29.1% from 52.0% a year earlier.
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $6.43, down 48.4% year over year.
- Net debt is 5.1× EBITDA, a high level of leverage.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Real Estate sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 41%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 24%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Top 32%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 47%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 35%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 1%
- Gross marginTop 27%
- Operating marginTop 42%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Top 30%
- Accruals (lower is better)Top 24%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 41%
- Interest coverTop 30%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldBottom 46%
- Free-cash-flow yieldTop 45%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 39%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 25%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Bottom 18%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 42%
- 6-month returnTop 23%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 35%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 14%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 19%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 43%
- Consecutive EPS beatsBottom 18%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 35%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 18%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 24%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 14%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Bottom 46%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 41%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 3.8% | 3.3% | ↓ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -14.9% | -48.4% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 55.3% | 69.4% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 52.0% | 29.1% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | 47.9% | 54.1% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 3.3% | 3.8% | ↓ | Bottom 41% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | -48.4% | -14.9% | ↓ | Bottom 24% |
| Gross margin | 69.4% | 55.3% | ↑ | Top 27% |
| Operating margin | 29.1% | 52.0% | ↓ | Top 42% |
| Net margin | 21.6% | 42.9% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 54.1% | 47.9% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 269.7% | — | Top 1% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 5.8% | — | Top 47% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 2.68×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -5.4%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.3%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -33.6 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 5.12×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 2.2×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 3.84%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 0.40%
- Shareholder yield
- 4.24%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +0.1%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +0.1%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 30, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 0
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 6 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +8.2%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +0.7%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 5 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $303.41
- Target vs current price
- +12.9%
- Analysts with a rating
- 47
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 38%
- Consensus rating
- Hold
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2026 | -33.6% | +0.8% | -2.5% | -0.9% | — |
| Apr 28, 2026 | +16.2% | +4.3% | +3.1% | +8.0% | +14.2% |
| Feb 4, 2026 | -13.8% | +2.0% | +6.0% | +3.4% | +6.3% |
| Oct 29, 2025 | +64.1% | -3.5% | +0.2% | +2.0% | -1.3% |
| Jul 29, 2025 | +132.4% | +2.7% | -10.1% | -6.3% | -7.5% |
| Apr 29, 2025 | +112.1% | -0.9% | +3.9% | -1.1% | +3.5% |
| Feb 4, 2025 | +185.7% | +1.0% | +2.4% | +8.2% | -1.8% |
| Oct 29, 2024 | +36.3% | -0.4% | -6.4% | +3.3% | -5.5% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2026 | $0.97 | $1.46 | -33.6% | $486.7M |
| Apr 28, 2026 | $1.65 | $1.42 | +16.2% | $482.4M |
| Feb 4, 2026 | $1.25 | $1.45 | -13.8% | $477.3M |
| Oct 29, 2025 | $2.56 | $1.56 | +64.1% | $470.9M |
| Jul 29, 2025 | $3.44 | $1.48 | +132.4% | $467.6M |
| Apr 29, 2025 | $3.16 | $1.49 | +112.1% | $462.1M |
| Feb 4, 2025 | $4.00 | $1.40 | +185.7% | $452.1M |
| Oct 29, 2024 | $1.84 | $1.35 | +36.3% | $448.1M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 41.8× | 34.5× | 71th | Bottom 46% |
| P/E (forward) | 47.8× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 18.3× | — | — | Bottom 39% |
| EV / Sales | 12.43× | — | — | Bottom 25% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 6.04% | — | — | Top 45% |
| Earnings yield | 2.39% | — | — | Bottom 46% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 19.0× – 56.6× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +0.8%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- -48.4%
- Change in P/E multiple
- +103.3%
Most of the move came from a change in the valuation multiple.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✓ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✓ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 110
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -3.0%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +0.6%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -4.3%
- Distance from 200-day average
- +0.1%
- RSI (14)
- 36.8
- Relative volume
- 0.84×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 18.9%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 13th percentile · Low for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.60
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.39
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -9.9%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -24.0%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21, 2022 | Mar 23, 2023 | -45.4% | 231 days | Not yet recovered |
| Oct 12, 2020 | Oct 28, 2020 | -14.1% | 12 days | 3 days (Nov 2, 2020) |
| Nov 16, 2020 | Jan 5, 2021 | -13.6% | 33 days | 25 days (Feb 10, 2021) |
| Nov 24, 2021 | Feb 23, 2022 | -12.2% | 61 days | 40 days (Apr 21, 2022) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $17.26B
- P/E (TTM)
- 41.8
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $6.43
- Revenue (TTM)
- $1.93B
- Dividend yield
- 3.85%
- 52-week range
- $238.46 – $303.35
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.44B | $1.61B | $1.67B | $1.77B | $1.90B |
| Gross profit | $1.21B | $1.11B | $1.14B | $1.21B | $1.31B |
| Operating income | $530.0M | $595.2M | $584.3M | $703.1M | $834.0M |
| Net income | $488.6M | $408.3M | $405.8M | $741.5M | $672.5M |
| EPS (diluted) | $7.51 | $6.27 | $6.32 | $11.54 | $10.41 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $462.3M | $454.5M | $477.8M | $469.8M | $473.3M | $479.6M | $484.8M | $489.0M |
| Net income | $118.4M | $257.5M | $203.1M | $221.4M | $164.6M | $83.4M | $106.2M | $62.5M |
| EPS (diluted) | $1.84 | $4.01 | $3.16 | $3.44 | $2.56 | $1.25 | $1.65 | $0.97 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $905.3M | $975.6M | $980.1M | $1.07B | $1.07B |
| Capital expenditure | -$121.2M | -$163.2M | -$140.4M | -$136.4M | -$140.3M |
| Free cash flow | $784.1M | $812.5M | $839.7M | $931.9M | $934.1M |
| Dividends paid | -$542.9M | -$565.9M | -$587.0M | -$620.5M | -$654.1M |
| Net share buybacks | -$9.6M | -$190.0M | -$96.0M | -$296,000 | -$8.1M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $158.5M
- Total assets
- $12.90B
- Total liabilities
- $7.39B
- Total debt
- $6.75B
- Net debt
- $6.68B
- Shareholders’ equity
- $5.32B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 30, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2026 | $2.59 | Oct 15, 2026 |
| Jun 30, 2026 | $2.59 | Jul 15, 2026 |
| Mar 31, 2026 | $2.59 | Apr 15, 2026 |
| Jan 2, 2026 | $2.57 | Jan 15, 2026 |
| Sep 30, 2025 | $2.57 | Oct 15, 2025 |
| Jun 30, 2025 | $2.57 | Jul 15, 2025 |
| Mar 31, 2025 | $2.57 | Apr 15, 2025 |
| Jan 2, 2025 | $2.45 | Jan 15, 2025 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 2,185,113
- Days to cover
- 4.24
- Change vs previous report
- -8.1%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.