State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Boosts Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,124 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,833 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $9,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 6,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,862,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 445 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 12,919 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,458,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on ESS. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $278.00 to $281.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Essex Property Trust from $268.00 to $262.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $305.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $280.72.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of ESS opened at $263.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $238.46 and a 1 year high of $294.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $251.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $254.99. The firm has a market cap of $16.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.25 and a beta of 0.71.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by ($2.31). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.03% and a return on equity of 10.00%. The company had revenue of $484.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $479.89 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.97 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $2.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.57. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.40%.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc (NYSE: ESS) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on market-rate apartment communities and delivers a full suite of property services including leasing, resident services, asset management, and capital improvement programs designed to preserve and enhance long‑term property values.

Essex concentrates its portfolio in West Coast markets, with a significant presence in California and the Pacific Northwest.