Engineers Gate Manager LP Buys 115,557 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 4,061.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 118,402 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 115,557 shares during the quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $33,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 300.0% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $280.00 to $268.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $271.00 and set a “cautious” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $294.00 to $284.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $267.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.53.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $257.73 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $258.09 and its 200 day moving average is $268.40. The stock has a market cap of $16.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.72. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.25 and a 1-year high of $316.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $473.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $472.11 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 45.46% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.91 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.930-4.030 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 15.890-15.990 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 78.12%.

About Essex Property Trust

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.