Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Reduces Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 60.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 16,647 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 120.0% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 176 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 67.8% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total transaction of $167,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $669,003.30. The trade was a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.47% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $293.14 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a PE ratio of 32.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $238.46 and a fifty-two week high of $303.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $282.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.84.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $484.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $479.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.97 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $2.59 per share. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $273.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $294.08.

Essex Property Trust 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.