Westpac Banking Corp Has $3.18 Million Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 24.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,152 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,372 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ESS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,690,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 973.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 743,954 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $199,127,000 after purchasing an additional 674,617 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 473.5% in the third quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 516,756 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $138,315,000 after purchasing an additional 426,650 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,679,607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $439,520,000 after purchasing an additional 301,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1,768.0% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 157,438 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,198,000 after purchasing an additional 149,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total value of $167,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $669,003.30. The trade was a 20.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $272.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $278.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $274.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $286.97.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS opened at $277.48 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $258.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $256.85. 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 52 week low of $238.46 and a 52 week high of $294.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.83 billion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a P/E/G ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 0.72.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 30.03%.The firm 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 earned $3.97 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $2.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 116.40%.

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.