Swiss National Bank Raises Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 189,032 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,560 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Essex Property Trust worth $45,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,873,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $488,601,000 after purchasing an additional 22,835 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 21.9% during the 4th 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. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,157,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $309,848,000 after buying an additional 100,730 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 958,090 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $250,714,000 after buying an additional 228,165 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 950,748 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $248,792,000 after buying an additional 29,466 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ESS. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $291.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group set a $290.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $299.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

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

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.3%

ESS opened at $293.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $18.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 0.70. 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 12 month low of $238.46 and a 12 month high of $303.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $284.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $264.49.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $484.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $479.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.97 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $2.59 per share. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.