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Essex Property (ESS) Q1 FFO & Revenues Beat, '24 View Revised

Zacks Equity Research
·3-min read

Essex Property Trust Inc. ESS reported first-quarter 2024 core funds from operations (FFO) per share of $3.83, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.74. The figure also improved 4.9% from the year-ago quarter.

Results reflect favorable growth in same-property revenues and net operating income (NOI). However, the same-property operating expenses partly acted as a dampener. ESS revised second-quarter and full-year 2024 guidance for core FFO per share.

Total revenues of $426.9 million outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $422.4 million. Revenues were up 3.5% year over year.

Quarter in Detail

In the first quarter, Essex Property’s same-property revenues increased 3.6% from the prior-year period, above our estimate of 3.4%. However, same-property operating expenses rose 5% year over year versus our estimate of 4.5%.

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Consequently, same-property NOI increased 3% year over year, in line with our estimate. Financial occupancies of 96.3% in the first quarter contracted 40 basis points (bps) year over year but rose 20 bps sequentially. The metric came above our estimate of 96%.

Balance Sheet

Essex Property exited the first quarter of 2024 with cash and cash equivalents, including restricted cash, of $507.9 million, up from the $400.3 million recorded at the end of 2023. ESS had $1.5 billion in liquidity through the undrawn capacity on its unsecured credit facilities, cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities as of Apr 29, 2024.

Year to date through Apr 29, 2024, ESS neither issued any shares of common stock through its equity distribution program nor repurchased any shares through its stock repurchase plan. As of Apr 29, 2024, the company had $302.7 million of purchase authority remaining under its stock repurchase plan.

Guidance

For the second quarter of 2024, Essex Property projects core FFO per share in the range of $3.77-$3.89, with the midpoint being $3.83. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $3.81.

For 2024, the company revised the core FFO per share guidance in the range of $15.03-$15.43, with the midpoint being $15.23, from the earlier range of $14.76-$15.30. The Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.12 stands within this range.

ESS now projects the same-property revenue growth on a cash basis to be in the range of 1.50-3.00%, revised from 0.70-2.70% projected earlier. It expects an unchanged operating expense that increases within 3.50-5.00% from prior guidance. Consequently, NOI is projected to grow in the range of 0.00-2.80%, up from -1.10-2.30% projected earlier.

Essex Property currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

 

Essex Property Trust, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Essex Property Trust, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Essex Property Trust, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Essex Property Trust, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Essex Property Trust, Inc. Quote

 

Performance of Other Residential REITs

AvalonBay Communities AVB reported a first-quarter 2024 core FFO per share of $2.70, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.64. Moreover, the figure climbed 5.1% from the prior-year quarter’s tally.

The quarterly results reflect better-than-expected performance in the stabilized portfolio. AVB also raised its 2024 core FFO per share, same-store residential revenue and NOI growth outlook following the Q1 FFO beat.

Equity Residential EQR reported first-quarter 2024 normalized FFO per share of 93 cents, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 91 cents. The rental income of $730.8 million also beat the consensus mark of $729.8 million.

Results reflect decent same-store performances, backed by healthy demand, modest supply and a focus on expense efficiency. EQR also experienced the lowest quarterly same-store turnover in its history.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.

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