Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Shares Bought by NEOS Investment Management LLC

NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 94.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,604 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,692 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at $239,442,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 48.3% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,056,887 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $299,522,000 after acquiring an additional 344,287 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 28.3% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 860,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $243,910,000 after purchasing an additional 189,663 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 42.1% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 509,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $144,400,000 after acquiring an additional 150,869 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 619,011 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $175,428,000 after acquiring an additional 135,965 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on ESS shares. Evercore dropped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $271.00 and set a “cautious” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $294.00 to $284.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $278.00 price target on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays restated a “positive” rating and set a $292.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $275.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $283.87.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $254.92 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $255.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $258.98. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.25 and a 52 week high of $316.29. The company has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a PEG ratio of 8.00 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $479.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $474.66 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 35.48% and a return on equity of 11.61%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.92 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 15.690-16.190 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 3.890-4.010 EPS. Research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.57. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 98.75%.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

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.