Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its Essex Property Trust stake by 13.9% in Q1, selling 15,121 shares and leaving it with 93,595 shares worth about $22.65 million.
• Several analysts remain constructive on ESS, with recent target price increases from firms like Scotiabank and Raymond James; the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus and a $299.08 average price target.
• Essex Property Trust recently reported Q1 earnings of $1.65 per share, below estimates, but revenue topped expectations; the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $2.59 per share, implying a 3.5% yield.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 13.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,595 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 15,121 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.15% of Essex Property Trust worth $22,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,873,698 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $488,601,000 after buying an additional 22,835 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,679,607 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $439,520,000 after acquiring an additional 301,349 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,157,617 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $309,848,000 after acquiring an additional 100,730 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 995,810 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $240,989,000 after acquiring an additional 57,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 958,090 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $250,714,000 after acquiring an additional 228,165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total value of $167,670.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,394 shares in the company, valued at $669,003.30. This represents a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $296.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Monday, June 8th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group set a $290.00 target price on Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $299.08.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.0%

ESS stock opened at $293.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $285.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.95. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $238.46 and a 12 month high of $303.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.85 billion, a PE ratio of 32.96, a P/E/G ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.70.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.96 by ($2.31). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 30.03%.The company had revenue of $484.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $479.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $2.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.40%.

About Essex Property Trust

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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