Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Shares Bought by Northern Trust Corp

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 10.6%, acquiring an additional 119,303 shares which brings its total holding to over 1.24 million shares, valued at approximately $382 million.
• Recent analyst reports have resulted in varied price target adjustments for Essex Property Trust, with Barclays lowering its target from $335 to $298, while BMO Capital raised their target from $315 to $317, reflecting mixed outlooks on the stock.
• Essex Property Trust reported a net margin of 43.51% and exceeded earnings expectations with $4.03 EPS for the last quarter, slightly beating the consensus estimate of $3.99.

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 10.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,247,133 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 119,303 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.94% of Essex Property Trust worth $382,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter worth about $34,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 34.8% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 190 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter worth $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $335.00 to $298.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Truist Financial lowered 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 note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered Essex Property Trust from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.86.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS traded up $3.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $266.56. 394,420 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 676,549. The company has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.43, a P/E/G ratio of 6.86 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The business's 50 day moving average is $275.97 and its 200-day moving average is $283.31. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $465.84 million for 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 last year, the firm earned $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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.