Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Sells 5,773 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC sold 5,773 shares of Essex Property Trust, reducing its holdings by 22.2% during Q2, leaving it with 20,203 shares valued at approximately $5.7 million.
• Essex Property Trust's stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average target price of $297.28, following mixed ratings from several analysts.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $2.57 per share, set to be paid on October 15th, representing an annualized yield of 3.9%.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,203 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 5,773 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $5,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 56.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 136 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Essex Property Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Piper Sandler downgraded Essex Property Trust from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $355.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Raymond James Financial upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, June 24th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.28.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS stock opened at $264.63 on Monday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.85 and a twelve month high of $316.29. The firm has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 0.81. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $264.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $276.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.47 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm 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. Analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 82.64%.

About Essex Property Trust

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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