Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 48.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,056,887 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 344,287 shares during the period. Essex Property Trust makes up 1.1% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $299,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $252.18 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $258.89 and a 200 day moving average of $268.77. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.25 and a 52 week high of $316.29. The company has a market cap of $16.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.01. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 45.46% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The business had revenue of $473.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $472.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.91 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.930-4.030 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 15.890-15.990 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on ESS. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $271.00 and set a “cautious” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $294.00 to $284.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $283.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $275.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.53.

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.