Essex Property Trust (ESS)
Real Estate · $17.7B market cap · SEC CIK 0000920522
fundamentals score out of 100
Next reports on Oct 27, 2026, after the close, with analysts expecting $1.47 in earnings per share.
The case for ESS
- 21% of revenue drops through to net profit.
- Pays a 4.3% dividend while you wait.
- Gross margin of 71% absorbs cost shocks.
- Moves less than the market (beta 0.70).
The case against
- Earnings per share down 48.4%.
- Pricey at 42.7× earnings, against a long-run market average nearer 20×.
- Priced at 9.2× sales with revenue growing only 4.7%.
- Return on equity of only 8%.
- Current liabilities exceed current assets (ratio 0.68).
- Dividend takes 160% of earnings, leaving little cushion.
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Real Estate companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings, sales, assets and cash | 32 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 21 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 56 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 50 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 82 |
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 31 Real Estate companies.
Key numbers
| Price / earnings | 42.7× |
|---|---|
| Price / book | 3.52× |
| Price / sales | 9.2× |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +4.7% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -48.4% |
| Gross margin | 71% |
| Operating margin | 33% |
| Net margin | 21% |
| Return on equity | 8% |
| Debt / equity | 1.26× |
| Current ratio | 0.68 |
| Dividend yield | 4.30% |
| Beta | 0.70 |
| 52-week range | $238.46 – $303.35 |
| Position in that range | 56% of the way up |
| 3-month return | -0.8% |
| 1-year return | +1.4% |
Five years of financials, as filed
Pulled from Essex Property Trust's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are derived from the rows above.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $9.4M | $10.3M | $11.1M | $11.1M | $9.1M |
| Gross profit | $1.3B | $1.2B | $1.2B | $1.1B | — |
| Operating income | $899M | $703M | $584M | $595M | $530M |
| Operating cash flow | $1.1B | $1.1B | $980M | $976M | $905M |
| Total assets | $13.2B | $12.9B | $12.4B | $12.4B | $13.0B |
| Total liabilities | $7.4B | $7.2B | $6.7B | $6.5B | $6.8B |
| Shareholder equity | $5.5B | $5.5B | $5.4B | $5.7B | $6.0B |
| Cash | $76.2M | $66.8M | $392M | $33.3M | $48.4M |
| Long-term debt | — | — | — | — | $639M |
| Gross margin | 14060.1% | 12105.7% | 10515.7% | 10130.2% | — |
| Operating margin | 9586.6% | 6849.4% | 5249.7% | 5343.6% | 5799.9% |
| Diluted shares | 64.4M | 64.3M | 64.3M | 65.1M | 65.1M |
Share count is essentially flat over 4 years.
What Essex Property Trust says it does
OVERVIEW Essex Property Trust, Inc. ("Essex"), a Maryland corporation, is an S&P 500 company that operates as a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT"). Essex owns all of its interest in its real estate and other investments directly or indirectly through Essex Portfolio, L.P. (the "Operating Partnership" or "EPLP"). Essex is the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership and as of December 31, 2025, had an approximately 96.6% general partner interest in the Operating Partnership. In this report, the terms "Company," "we," "us," and "our" also refer to Essex Property Trust, Inc., the Operating Partnership and those entities/subsidiaries owned or controlled by Essex and/or the Operating Partnership. Essex has elected to be treated as a REIT for federal income tax purposes commencing with the year ended December 31, 1994. Essex completed its initial public offering on June 13, 1994. In order to…
Risk factors ESS lists in its 10-K
- Risks Related to Our Real Estate Investments and Operations
- General real estate investment risks may materially adversely affect property income and values, and therefore our stock price may be materially adversely affected
- Short-term leases expose us to the effects of declining market rents, and the Company may be unable to renew leases or relet units as leases expire
- Economic environments can negatively impact the Company’s liquidity and results of operations
- Acquisitions of communities involve various risks and uncertainties and may fail to meet expectations
- Development and redevelopment activities may be delayed, not completed, and/or not achieve expected results
- The geographic concentration of the Company’s communities and fluctuations in local markets may adversely affect the Company’s financial condition and results of operations
- The Company may experience various increased costs, including increased property taxes, to own and maintain its properties
- Competition in the apartment community market and other housing alternatives may materially adversely affect operations and the rental demand for the Company’s communities
- Investments in mortgages, mezzanine loans, subordinated debt, other real estate, and other marketable securities could materially adversely affect the Company’s cash flow from operations
- We may pursue acquisitions of other REITs and real estate companies, which may not yield anticipated results and could materially adversely affect our results of operations
- Real estate investments are relatively illiquid and, therefore, the Company’s ability to vary its portfolio promptly in response to changes in economic or other conditions may be limited
- The Company’s portfolio may have environmental liabilities
- The Company may incur general uninsured losses or may experience market conditions that impact the procurement of certain insurance policies