Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Grows Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 4.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,170 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,440,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,200,675,000 after acquiring an additional 87,117 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 151,452.8% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,978,012 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $843,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,976,047 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 66.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,746,242 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $841,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,619 shares during the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at $384,606,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.6% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,247,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $382,334,000 after purchasing an additional 119,303 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 3.4%

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $247.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $15.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 0.81. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $263.86 and a 200 day moving average of $273.31.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.97. The company had revenue of $473.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.11 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 business earned $3.91 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.930-4.030 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 15.890-15.990 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 82.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ESS. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Essex Property Trust from $320.00 to $309.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $355.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.09.

About Essex Property Trust

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.