Vestcor Inc Purchases 12,648 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Vestcor Inc lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 78.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,648 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $7,690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 524,756 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $140,443,000 after purchasing an additional 15,301 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.7% in the third quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,735 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,730,000 after buying an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at $976,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at about $276,000. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 16.1% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,044 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after buying an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $273.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $271.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $280.00 to $268.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.00.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.1%

ESS opened at $255.36 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.25 and a fifty-two week high of $310.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 8.02 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50-day moving average is $254.98 and its 200 day moving average is $258.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.98 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $474.66 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 11.61% and a net margin of 35.48%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.92 earnings per share. 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

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

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.