Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Shares Sold by Aurora Investment Managers LLC.

Aurora Investment Managers LLC. lessened its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 44 shares during the quarter. Essex Property Trust comprises about 2.3% of Aurora Investment Managers LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Aurora Investment Managers LLC.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth about $152,000. Simon Quick Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth about $289,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.6% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,871 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth about $1,723,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $262.08 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.85 and a 52 week high of $316.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $263.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $276.20.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $466.47 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.94 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 3.890-3.990 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 15.800-16.020 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $283.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Piper Sandler downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.28.

Essex Property Trust Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.