Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Short Interest Down 33.3% in August

Key Points

• Essex Property Trust experienced a significant 33.3% decrease in short interest, dropping from 2,040,000 shares in July to 1,360,000 shares in August, representing approximately 2.1% of its total shares.
• The company reported an EPS of $4.03 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates by $0.04, and provided Q3 2025 guidance of $3.890-3.990 EPS.
• Essex Property Trust declared a quarterly dividend of $2.57, with a yield of 3.8%, set to be paid on October 15th.

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,360,000 shares, a decline of 33.3% from the July 31st total of 2,040,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 517,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company's stock are sold short. Approximately 2.1% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 517,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth $653,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 883 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth $705,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 133,886 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $41,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth $569,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of ESS stock traded down $1.58 on Friday, hitting $267.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 244,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 479,983. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Essex Property Trust has a fifty-two week low of $243.85 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $270.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $280.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.83.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The business had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $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. Research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 82.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $335.00 to $298.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $320.00 to $309.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $298.41.

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.