Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Shares Acquired by Centersquare Investment Management LLC

Centersquare Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 548,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,261 shares during the quarter. Essex Property Trust accounts for approximately 1.4% of Centersquare Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Centersquare Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $143,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ESS. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 57.5% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 120.0% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 176 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth $51,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $272.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $296.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $291.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $272.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $288.44.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $280.67 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $265.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $258.39. The company has a market cap of $18.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 0.72. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $238.46 and a fifty-two week high of $294.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by ($2.31). The firm had revenue of $484.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $479.89 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 30.03%.During the same quarter last 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 analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 116.40%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total transaction of $167,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $669,003.30. The trade was a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essex Property Trust Profile

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.