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

Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 950,748 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 29,466 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $248,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $1,664,000. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $223,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 70.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 186.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 33,614 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,526,000 after purchasing an additional 21,871 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 8,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,345,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $277.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.86 billion, a PE ratio of 31.22, a P/E/G ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $238.46 and a twelve month high of $294.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $256.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.40.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $479.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.97 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ESS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $272.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Piper Sandler upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $275.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, May 4th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, February 27th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $278.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $283.74.

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.