Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Holdings Trimmed by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC lowered its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 167,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 24,605 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $45,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 2,766 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $745,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 55 North Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. 55 North Private Wealth LLC now owns 897 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 24,899 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,708,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 787 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS opened at $274.45 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a market cap of $17.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $276.79. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $238.46 and a 12-month high of $303.35.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $2.62. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 7.33%. The firm had revenue of $489.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.03 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.930-4.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 16.030-16.250 EPS. Research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $2.59 per share. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 161.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ESS. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $307.00 to $293.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $286.00 to $275.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Evercore set a $299.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Monday, September 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $293.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.99.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust that owns, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily apartment communities. The company focuses on providing rental housing in high-demand markets and generates revenue primarily from apartment rents and related resident services.

Founded in 1971 and headquartered in San Mateo, California, Essex operates primarily in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Seattle metropolitan area.