Graham Capital Management L.P. Has $2.60 Million Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. significantly increased its stake in Essex Property Trust, acquiring an additional 7,483 shares, bringing its total holdings to 8,494 shares worth approximately $2.6 million.
• Essex Property Trust recently reported earnings of $4.03 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and showing a year-over-year increase from $3.94 per share.
• The stock currently has a market capitalization of $17.42 billion and analysts generally have a mixed outlook, with an average target price of $301.42 and various ratings from Buy to Hold.

Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 740.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,494 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 7,483 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth about $34,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Capital Analysts LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 56.3% during the first quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 136 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 34.8% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 190 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ESS shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $285.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $283.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $335.00 to $298.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $279.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $300.44.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS stock traded up $3.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $268.09. 395,001 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 485,852. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.85 and a twelve month high of $317.73. 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 50 day simple moving average of $272.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.72 and a beta of 0.83.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 in the prior year, the business earned $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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.