Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Buys 2,976,047 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Key Points

• Valeo Financial Advisors LLC significantly boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by acquiring nearly 2.98 million shares, increasing its ownership to approximately 4.62% of the company, worth around $843.97 million.
• Essex Property Trust recently declared a quarterly dividend of $2.57 per share, yielding 3.9%, with the payout scheduled for October 15 and a dividend payout ratio of 82.64%.
• Currently, Essex Property Trust has an average analyst rating of "Hold" with a target price of $297.28, after several adjustments from different firms over recent months.

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 151,452.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,978,012 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 2,976,047 shares during the period. Essex Property Trust accounts for about 2.6% of Valeo Financial Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC owned about 4.62% of Essex Property Trust worth $843,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 974 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.5% in the first quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 29,940 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $9,179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,462 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at $152,000. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth $289,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Barclays lowered their target price on Essex Property Trust from $298.00 to $297.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $285.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.28.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $264.63 on Monday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $264.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $276.67. The stock has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 0.81. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.85 and a fifty-two week high of $316.29.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $465.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 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. Equities analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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