Voya Investment Management LLC Purchases 1,313 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. by 3.7%, owning approximately 0.06% of the company valued at $11.3 million.
• Equities analysts are divided on ESS, with some lowering their target prices; Piper Sandler downgraded its rating from "overweight" to "neutral" and cut the target price to $275.
• Essex Property Trust announced a quarterly dividend of $2.57 to be paid on October 15th, representing a 3.9% yield.

Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,011 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 1,313 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.06% of Essex Property Trust worth $11,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 11.9% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,017 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Invst LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at $748,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at $22,600,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 19.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 387 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at $223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of ESS stock traded down $0.76 on Friday, hitting $267.87. 858,674 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 356,047. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $243.85 and a one year high of $316.29. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $268.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $279.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 6.90 and a beta of 0.83.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The company had revenue of $465.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.47 million. During the same quarter 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. Equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ESS. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $279.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $285.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $355.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $298.66.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.