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Is it Wise to Retain Essex Property Stock in Your Portfolio for Now?
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Key Takeaways
ESS posted Q2 2025 core FFO of $4.03, up 2.3% and above the consensus estimate.
Results benefited from same-property revenue and NOI growth despite higher expenses.
High supply, competition and elevated debt costs limit ESS' rent growth potential.
Essex Property Trust, Inc. (ESS - Free Report) is well-poised to gain from a robust property base in the West Coast market with several demand drivers. The high cost of home ownership is likely to continue driving healthy demand for residential rental units, aiding revenue growth.
Efforts to leverage technology, scale and organizational capabilities are expected to boost margin expansion and bring about operational efficiency across its portfolio. A healthy balance sheet also augurs well for growth.
However, the elevated supply of rental units in certain markets is likely to increase competitive pressure, restricting rent growth momentum to some extent. A concentrated portfolio and high debt burden add to its woes.
Last month, Essex Property reported second-quarter 2025 core FFO per share of $4.03, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.99. The figure also improved 2.3% from the year-ago quarter. Results reflected favorable growth in same-property revenues and net operating income (NOI). However, same-property operating expenses and interest expenses partly dampened the performance. Essex Property raised its full-year 2025 guidance at the midpoint for core FFO per share.
What’s Aiding ESS?
Essex Property’s substantial exposure to the West Coast market has offered ample scope to enhance its top line. The West Coast is home to several innovation and technology companies that drive job creation and income growth. This region has higher median household incomes, an increased percentage of renters than owners and favorable demographics. Also, due to the high cost of homeownership amid still elevated interest rates, the transition from renter to homeowner is difficult, making renting apartment units a more flexible and viable option.
ESS is banking on its technology, scale and organizational capabilities to drive margin expansion across its portfolio and bring about operational efficiency by lowering costs. These efforts are likely to have an incremental effect on top-line and bottom-line growth, positioning the company to ride on the growth curve.
Essex Property maintains a healthy balance sheet and enjoys financial flexibility. As of June 30, 2025, the company had $1.5 billion of liquidity through an undrawn capacity on its unsecured credit facilities, cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. In the second quarter of 2025, its net debt-to-adjusted EBITDAre was 5.5X. Over the years, it has made efforts to increase its unencumbered net operating income (NOI) to an adjusted total NOI, which was 93% at the end of the second quarter of 2025. With a high percentage of such assets, the company can access secured and unsecured debt markets and maintain availability on the line.
Solid dividend payouts are arguably the biggest attraction for REIT investors, and Essex Property has been steadily raising its payout. It has increased its dividend five times in the last five years, and its five-year annualized dividend growth rate is 4.95%. With a low dividend payout ratio and decent balance sheet strength, the dividend payment is expected to be sustainable over the long run.
What’s Hurting ESS?
The struggle to lure renters will persist, as supply volumes remain elevated in some of the markets where the company operates. In addition, Essex Property faces competition from other housing alternatives, such as rental apartments, condominiums and single-family homes. Such a competitive landscape limits the company’s ability to increase rents, restricting its growth momentum to some extent.
Despite the Federal Reserve announcing rate cuts late in 2024, the interest rate is still high and is a concern for Essex Property in the near term. Elevated rates imply high borrowing costs for the company, which would affect its ability to purchase or develop real estate. The company has a substantial debt burden, and its total debt, net as of June 30, 2025, was $6.76 billion. During the second quarter of 2025, interest expenses increased 9.7% year over year to $64.2 million.
ESS’ Zacks Rank and Price Performance
While shares of this residential REIT, carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), have fallen 9.4%, slightly narrower than the industry’s decline of 9.5% so far in the year, analysts seem bullish on this stock, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2025 FFO per share being revised marginally upward to $15.95 over the past month.
Image: Shutterstock
Is it Wise to Retain Essex Property Stock in Your Portfolio for Now?
Key Takeaways
Essex Property Trust, Inc. (ESS - Free Report) is well-poised to gain from a robust property base in the West Coast market with several demand drivers. The high cost of home ownership is likely to continue driving healthy demand for residential rental units, aiding revenue growth.
Efforts to leverage technology, scale and organizational capabilities are expected to boost margin expansion and bring about operational efficiency across its portfolio. A healthy balance sheet also augurs well for growth.
However, the elevated supply of rental units in certain markets is likely to increase competitive pressure, restricting rent growth momentum to some extent. A concentrated portfolio and high debt burden add to its woes.
Last month, Essex Property reported second-quarter 2025 core FFO per share of $4.03, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.99. The figure also improved 2.3% from the year-ago quarter. Results reflected favorable growth in same-property revenues and net operating income (NOI). However, same-property operating expenses and interest expenses partly dampened the performance. Essex Property raised its full-year 2025 guidance at the midpoint for core FFO per share.
What’s Aiding ESS?
Essex Property’s substantial exposure to the West Coast market has offered ample scope to enhance its top line. The West Coast is home to several innovation and technology companies that drive job creation and income growth. This region has higher median household incomes, an increased percentage of renters than owners and favorable demographics. Also, due to the high cost of homeownership amid still elevated interest rates, the transition from renter to homeowner is difficult, making renting apartment units a more flexible and viable option.
ESS is banking on its technology, scale and organizational capabilities to drive margin expansion across its portfolio and bring about operational efficiency by lowering costs. These efforts are likely to have an incremental effect on top-line and bottom-line growth, positioning the company to ride on the growth curve.
Essex Property maintains a healthy balance sheet and enjoys financial flexibility. As of June 30, 2025, the company had $1.5 billion of liquidity through an undrawn capacity on its unsecured credit facilities, cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. In the second quarter of 2025, its net debt-to-adjusted EBITDAre was 5.5X. Over the years, it has made efforts to increase its unencumbered net operating income (NOI) to an adjusted total NOI, which was 93% at the end of the second quarter of 2025. With a high percentage of such assets, the company can access secured and unsecured debt markets and maintain availability on the line.
Solid dividend payouts are arguably the biggest attraction for REIT investors, and Essex Property has been steadily raising its payout. It has increased its dividend five times in the last five years, and its five-year annualized dividend growth rate is 4.95%. With a low dividend payout ratio and decent balance sheet strength, the dividend payment is expected to be sustainable over the long run.
What’s Hurting ESS?
The struggle to lure renters will persist, as supply volumes remain elevated in some of the markets where the company operates. In addition, Essex Property faces competition from other housing alternatives, such as rental apartments, condominiums and single-family homes. Such a competitive landscape limits the company’s ability to increase rents, restricting its growth momentum to some extent.
Despite the Federal Reserve announcing rate cuts late in 2024, the interest rate is still high and is a concern for Essex Property in the near term. Elevated rates imply high borrowing costs for the company, which would affect its ability to purchase or develop real estate. The company has a substantial debt burden, and its total debt, net as of June 30, 2025, was $6.76 billion. During the second quarter of 2025, interest expenses increased 9.7% year over year to $64.2 million.
ESS’ Zacks Rank and Price Performance
While shares of this residential REIT, carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), have fallen 9.4%, slightly narrower than the industry’s decline of 9.5% so far in the year, analysts seem bullish on this stock, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2025 FFO per share being revised marginally upward to $15.95 over the past month.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are American Homes 4 Rent (AMH - Free Report) and Equity Residential (EQR - Free Report) . American Homes 4 Rent and Equity Residential each carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for American Homes 4 Rent’s 2025 FFO per share has been raised marginally over the past month to $1.86.
The consensus estimate for Equity Residential’s current-year FFO per share has moved northward marginally in the past week to $3.98.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.