Vest Financial LLC Cuts Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC reduced its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, owning approximately 192,767 shares valued at $54.63 million after selling 4,484 shares.
• Essex Property Trust's stock performance saw it open at $255.94, with a 52-week low of $243.85 and a high of $316.29, while having a market capitalization of $16.48 billion.
• The company reported $4.03 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, and has set its Q3 2025 EPS guidance between $3.890 and $3.990.

Vest Financial LLC lowered its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 192,767 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 4,484 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC owned approximately 0.30% of Essex Property Trust worth $54,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 300.0% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $255.94 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $263.21 and a 200 day moving average of $275.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.85 and a 52 week high of $316.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 6.21 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 (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company 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. As a group, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

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 4.0%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is 82.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on 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. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered Essex Property Trust from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $297.28.

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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