Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $799,000 in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $799,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.7% during the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,047 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Vanderbilt University raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.9% during the first quarter. Vanderbilt University now owns 4,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth about $1,550,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 91,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,083,000 after purchasing an additional 28,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 212,619 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,655,000 after purchasing an additional 21,832 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 2,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $669,003.30. The trade was a 20.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS stock traded up $3.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $301.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 42,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 509,760. The stock has a market cap of $19.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.80, a PEG ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $276.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $261.39. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $238.46 and a 1 year high of $301.00.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by ($2.31). The business had revenue of $484.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $479.89 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 30.03%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.11 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $296.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Monday, June 8th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group set a $290.00 target price on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $292.08.

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.