Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Holdings Lifted by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 51.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 52,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,952 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $14,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 28.8% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 10.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,173 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 105.2% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,398,000 after buying an additional 4,339 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 36,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,327,000 after buying an additional 975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis Selected Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 28,541 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,089,000 after buying an additional 810 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $271.00 and set a “cautious” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $292.53.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $254.49 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.25 and a 12-month high of $316.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $261.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $271.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 0.82.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $473.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $472.11 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 45.46% and a return on equity of 14.70%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.91 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.930-4.030 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 15.890-15.990 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 78.12%.

Essex Property Trust Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.