Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its Q4 stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.5% to 10,296,863 shares — about a 15.99% ownership stake valued at $2.694 billion.
• Essex beat Q1 estimates with EPS of $4.06 (vs. $3.96 expected) and $480.72M revenue, gave Q2 EPS guidance of $3.92–4.04, and analysts project roughly 16.03 EPS for the fiscal year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $2.59 (annualized $10.36) for a 3.9% yield, but the dividend payout ratio is high at 99.52%.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,296,863 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 46,568 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 15.99% of Essex Property Trust worth $2,694,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 57.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 115 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 176 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth $48,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the second quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at $51,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ESS. BMO Capital Markets cut Essex Property Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $305.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $281.91.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 4.5%

ESS opened at $268.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.78, a PEG ratio of 8.05 and a beta of 0.71. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $251.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $254.88. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $238.46 and a 52 week high of $294.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $480.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $480.04 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 35.48% and a return on equity of 11.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.97 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $2.59 dividend. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.57. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.52%.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc NYSE: ESS is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on market-rate apartment communities and delivers a full suite of property services including leasing, resident services, asset management, and capital improvement programs designed to preserve and enhance long‑term property values.

Essex concentrates its portfolio in West Coast markets, with a significant presence in California and the Pacific Northwest.

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