Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 227,786 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 11,073 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Essex Property Trust worth $64,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 300.0% in the 2nd 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 acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Saturday. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $320.00 to $309.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.09.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $264.74 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $264.17 and a 200-day moving average of $273.54. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.85 and a 1-year high of $316.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $17.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28, a PEG ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 0.81.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $465.84 million for 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $3.94 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 3.890-3.990 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 15.800-16.020 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.64%.

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.