Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 921,282 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 8,778 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 1.43% of Essex Property Trust worth $246,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter worth about $239,442,000. Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 473.5% during the 3rd quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 516,756 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $138,315,000 after acquiring an additional 426,650 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 48.3% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,056,887 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $299,522,000 after purchasing an additional 344,287 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 28.3% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 860,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $243,910,000 after purchasing an additional 189,663 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 42.1% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 509,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $144,400,000 after purchasing an additional 150,869 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.6%

ESS opened at $250.11 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $254.54 and a 200 day moving average of $258.82. The company has a market cap of $16.13 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 0.73. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.25 and a 12 month high of $310.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $479.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.59 per share. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.57. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $282.00 price objective (down from $304.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Monday, December 15th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $278.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $273.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $282.00.

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.