CIBC Asset Management Inc Acquires 6,223 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Key Points

• CIBC Asset Management increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 69.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 6,223 additional shares and bringing its total to 15,160 shares valued at about $3.97 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on ESS remains mixed: the stock has a consensus rating of Hold with an average target price of $286.97, though Piper Sandler recently upgraded it to Overweight and lifted its target to $310.
• Essex Property Trust reported Q1 earnings of $1.65 per share, well below estimates of $3.96, even as revenue slightly topped expectations; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $2.59 per share, yielding 3.6% annually.

CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 69.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,160 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 6,223 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $230,690,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 973.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 743,954 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $199,127,000 after purchasing an additional 674,617 shares during the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 473.5% in the third quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 516,756 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $138,315,000 after purchasing an additional 426,650 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,679,607 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $439,520,000 after purchasing an additional 301,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1,768.0% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 157,438 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $41,198,000 after purchasing an additional 149,010 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on ESS. Piper Sandler raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $272.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $274.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $293.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $286.97.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $285.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $18.36 billion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.33 and a beta of 0.72. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $262.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $257.64. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $238.46 and a one year high of $294.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $484.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period last year, the business posted $3.97 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.08 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.59 per share. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.40%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

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 transaction of $167,670.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at $669,003.30. This trade represents a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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