AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Makes New $1.18 Million Investment in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust worth approximately $1,175,000 by purchasing 4,139 shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts have set mixed price targets for ESS, with Wells Fargo lowering its target from $325.00 to $279.00, while Stifel Nicolaus increased it slightly from $301.50 to $305.50.
• Essex Property Trust recently declared a dividend of $2.57 per share, leading to an annualized dividend yield of 3.8% for investors.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,139 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,175,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ESS. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.7% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 37,011 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $11,346,000 after buying an additional 1,313 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 11.9% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Invst LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $748,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $22,600,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 19.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 387 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS stock traded down $0.07 on Friday, hitting $268.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 137,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 478,509. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock's 50 day moving average is $269.00 and its 200-day moving average is $279.49. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.85 and a fifty-two week high of $316.29. The company has a market capitalization of $17.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.83.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $466.47 million. During the same period in the prior 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. Equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is 82.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $283.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned 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 $298.66.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.