Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Position Cut by Vert Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Vert Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.1%, holding 28,406 shares valued at approximately $8.05 million.
• Essex Property Trust recently announced a quarterly dividend of $2.57 per share, which represents an annual yield of 3.8% and a payout ratio of 82.64%.
• Despite mixed ratings from analysts, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of "Hold" with a target price of $297.28.

Vert Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 5.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,406 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,534 shares during the quarter. Essex Property Trust comprises 2.9% of Vert Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Vert Asset Management LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $8,050,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $653,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 883 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $705,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in 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 buying an additional 1,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,092 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $283.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $320.00 to $309.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial raised Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $279.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $285.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $297.28.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS opened at $267.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47, a P/E/G ratio of 6.82 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $265.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $277.49. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.85 and a fifty-two week high of $316.29.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.47 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 43.51%.During the same period last year, the company posted $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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is currently 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.

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