Empire State Realty Trust trades near fair value per Longleaf Partners, despite a 30.5% year-over-year decline in shares.
Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT) closed at $5.54 on July 13, 2026, valuing the NYC-focused REIT at $1.69 billion. The stock posted a 3.36% one-month gain but fell 30.49% over the past 52 weeks, underperforming broader small-cap benchmarks.
Longleaf Partners Small-Cap Fund, which returned -2.47% in Q2 2026, cited ESRT as attractive based on price-to-value and price-to-free-cash-flow metrics. The fund lagged the Russell 2000 Index’s 21.49% gain and the Russell 2000 Value Index’s 17.19% rise, attributing underperformance to IT and industrials sector volatility and speculative stock rallies.
The fund’s approach prioritizes free cash flow growth and multiple expansion, contrasting with market trends favoring higher-risk assets. ESRT remains a top holding despite its recent struggles.