ESS Value Scorecard - Essex Property Trust

Value Scorecard · REIT version · run 2026-10-19

13 value checks for REITs: 12 scored 1 to 5, plus moat evidence

44/60

moderate value scoreREIT version

Why this card is different. REITs must pay out most of their taxable income, and depreciation on their buildings lowers the earnings they report. So this card scores funds from operations (FFO) in place of earnings for five of its checks, and capital allocation uses REIT tests. Compare a REIT’s score with other REITs’ scores, not with other companies’: six of its checks are different.

What’s different

EPS trend→FFO per share trend ROE trend→FFO payout ratio ROIC→Debt to total assets Retained earnings→FFO kept after distributions Graham value→Price-to-FFO Capital allocation→Capital allocation, REIT tests

Margin of safety uses the DCF value alone. Everything else is the same as on every card.

What is FFO?

Funds from operations. In short: net income with property depreciation added back, and gains or losses from selling property and property write-downs taken out. It is the standard measure REITs report, defined by Nareit, the REIT industry association.

Valerius uses Nareit FFO. Companies also report adjusted versions (AFFO, “normalized” FFO) under their own definitions, which can be higher or lower, so a figure in the news can differ from the one here.

Scored with the REIT version since Oct 2026. The earlier score, 36 of 55, used the standard version, whose checks don't fit how a REIT works. The two scores are not comparable: the method changed.

Earnings & returns

FFO per Share Trend REIT measure

4/5

Nareit FFO per diluted share, as reported in the 10-Ks: $13.70 (2022), $15.24 (2023), $15.99 (2024), $15.98 (2025). It rose every year but one and ended above 2022; the framework scores that as 4.

Funds from operations attributable to common stockholders and unitholders $ 1,065,136 $ 1,063,878 $ 1,013,713FFO per share-diluted $ 15.98 $ 15.99 $ 15.24 Found by AI, checked by codeFrom the company’s 10-K for 2025, filed 2026-02-20 · View the filing

How this figure was checked

AI found this line in the 10-K. Valerius then checked in code that the line appears in the filing word for word, that it is the plain FFO line (not an adjusted one), and that FFO per share times the diluted share count matches the reported total, or, where no per-share figure is printed, that it is close to FFO built from the filed figures. The score is a fixed rule applied to that figure. No AI sets a score.

FFO Payout Ratio REIT measure

5/5

Distributions paid (yfinance) over Nareit FFO (10-K): 61% (2022), 58% (2023), 58% (2024), 61% (2025). 61% in 2025; the framework scores 70% or less as 5.

How this figure was checked

Profit Margins

5/5

Net margin of 20.9%; the framework scores above 20% as 5; gross margin 68.8%, operating margin 34.0%.

Balance sheet & cash

Debt to Total Assets REIT measure

2/5

Total debt over total assets (yfinance balance sheets): 48.7% (2022), 50.7% (2023), 51.5% (2024), 52.1% (2025). 52.1% in 2025; the framework scores 50-60% as 2.

Debt-to-Equity

3/5

Debt-to-equity of 1.22; the framework scores 0.8-1.5 as 3 (total debt $6.75B, total cash $67.53M).

Free Cash Flow

5/5

Free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capital expenditure): $812.46M (2022), $839.69M (2023), $931.91M (2024), $934.08M (2025). It rose every year; the framework scores that as 5.

FFO Kept after Distributions REIT measure

4/5

FFO kept after distributions (Nareit FFO from the 10-Ks minus distributions paid, yfinance): $357.44M (2022), $426.74M (2023), $443.41M (2024), $411.07M (2025). It rose every year but one and ended above 2022; the framework scores that as 4.

How this figure was checked

Valuation models

Price-to-FFO REIT measure

3/5

Price $266.65 over 2025 FFO per share of $15.98 (as reported in the 10-K) = 16.7; the framework scores 16-20 as 3.

How this figure was checked

DCF Value

3/5

FCF/share = $16.245, stage 1 growth = 6.3% for 5 years, terminal growth = 3%, discount rate = 10%. Stage 1 PV = $73.39, PV of terminal value = $201.45, DCF value = $274.83. Current price $266.65; price is 3.0% below the model value.

Margin of Safety

3/5

From the DCF value alone in the REIT version: DCF value $274.83; price is 3.0% below the model value.

Price-to-Book

2/5

P/B of 3.22; the framework scores 3.0-5.0 as 2.

Business quality

Moat Evidence

Not scored

A moat (a brand, a network, switching costs, patents, scale, a licence) is not a number in the filings, so Valerius doesn’t score it. Below are the figures and the words moat analysis starts from, from the company’s own 10-K filings. The conclusion is yours.

Return on capital, each year

Not available: the 10-K financial data has no standard figures for operating income, total assets and current liabilities in the same years, as is common for banks, insurers and REITs.

Gross margin, each year

Between 10130.2% and 14060.1% over 4 years (a range of 3929.9 points).

Competition, in the company’s own words · 10-K filed Feb 20, 2026

There are numerous housing alternatives that compete with the Company’s communities in attracting tenants. These include other apartment communities, condominiums and single-family homes. If the demand for the Company’s communities is reduced or if competitors develop and/or acquire competing housing, rental rates and occupancy may drop which may have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations.

The opening of the company’s “COMPETITION” section in its 10-K, quoted word for word, not summarized or edited. It is the company’s own description, not Valerius’s view, and may include the company’s expectations. Open the filing.

Return on capital = operating income / (total assets − current liabilities), the ROIC row’s definition; 15% is the framework’s return threshold. Gross margin = gross profit / revenue. Both from each year’s 10-K via SEC EDGAR. Moat analysis commonly looks at whether returns and margins held up over many years. These figures don’t say whether the company has an advantage, what it is, or whether it will last.

Capital Allocation

5/5

Capital allocation (REIT), 2022-2025: distributions paid in every year (pass); distributions covered by FFO every year (pass); debt to total assets 48.7% to 52.1% (pass: up no more than 5 points); shares outstanding down 0.3% (pass). 4 of 4 tests passed; the framework scores that as 5.

Filings

Company notices to the SEC

Not scored

Three kinds of event the company reported to the SEC in the last 5 years, from its filings on SEC EDGAR.

These are events the company reported to the SEC. An auditor change or a late filing can have many causes; each date links to the filing, where the company explains it. Valerius does not score these.

How the DCF value was calculated (the Graham value is not used in the REIT version)

  Graham Formula:
    IV = EPS x (8.5 + 2g) x (4.4 / Y)
    EPS = $6.43, g = 20.0%, Y = 4.5
    g capped at 20.0% (3-year EPS CAGR was 28.3%)
    IV = $304.92
    Current price $266.65 vs Graham value $304.92 — price is 12.6% below the model value.

  DCF:
    FCF/share = $16.245
    Stage 1 growth = 6.3% for 5 years | terminal growth = 3.0% | discount rate = 10.0%
      Y1: $17.268 → PV $15.698
      Y2: $18.356 → PV $15.170
      Y3: $19.513 → PV $14.660
      Y4: $20.742 → PV $14.167
      Y5: $22.049 → PV $13.691
    Stage 1 PV sum = $73.39
    Terminal value at end of Y5 = $324.43
    PV of terminal value = $201.45
    DCF value = $274.83
    Current price $266.65 vs DCF value $274.83 — price is 3.0% below the model value.

Data from yfinance summary figures and financial statements, and from the company’s 10-K filings via SEC EDGAR; computed at a price of $266.65. Every score is calculated from the figures by the framework’s fixed rules, and the explanation beside it is generated from the same figures: FFO per share trend, FFO payout ratio, debt to total assets, debt-to-equity, free cash flow, profit margins, FFO kept after distributions, price-to-FFO, DCF value, margin of safety, price-to-book and capital allocation (the REIT version). FFO figures were found in the 10-K filings by AI and checked in code before use; no AI sets a score. The moat is shown as evidence, without a score. Read each score with the figures beside it. Intrinsic value calculations are model outputs based on stated assumptions, not predictions.

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ESS · Essex Property Trust

ESS price

13 value checks for REITs: 12 scored 1 to 5, plus moat evidence

FFO per Share Trend REIT measure

FFO Payout Ratio REIT measure

Profit Margins

Debt to Total Assets REIT measure

Debt-to-Equity

Free Cash Flow

FFO Kept after Distributions REIT measure

Price-to-FFO REIT measure

DCF Value

Margin of Safety

Price-to-Book

Moat Evidence

Capital Allocation

Company notices to the SEC

In the news