Strs Ohio Makes New $22.60 Million Investment in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has invested approximately $22.6 million in Essex Property Trust, Inc., acquiring 73,718 shares during the first quarter, representing about 0.11% of the company's total stock.
• Essex Property Trust recently reported a Q2 earnings per share of $4.03, slightly exceeding analysts' estimates, with revenue of $465.84 million, just below the consensus of $466.47 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $2.57 per share, with an annualized yield of 3.8%, payable on October 15th to stockholders of record on September 30th.

Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 73,718 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $22,600,000. Strs Ohio owned approximately 0.11% of Essex Property Trust at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ESS. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,629 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,014 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $860,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $192,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 190.3% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 16,033 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,576,000 after buying an additional 10,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $335.00 to $298.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $298.66.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock traded down $2.66 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $264.43. The stock had a trading volume of 607,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 364,035. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $270.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $17.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.86 and a beta of 0.83. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.85 and a 52-week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $465.84 million for 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 quarter last year, the firm 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, sell-side analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. 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.