Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Shares Sold by Spirit of America Management Corp NY

Spirit of America Management Corp NY lessened its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,986 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,750 shares during the quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,054 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 57.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Norinchukin Bank The grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the third 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 during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.4% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 6.3% in the third quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on ESS shares. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $278.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $305.00 to $280.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $271.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $273.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $282.00.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $242.63 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $238.46 and a fifty-two week high of $309.07. The firm has a market cap of $15.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.31, a P/E/G ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $252.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 period in the prior 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. Analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current 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 paid 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 4.3%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.57. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.75%.

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.