Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Stake Raised by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,996 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.06% of Essex Property Trust worth $9,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 11.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 23,136 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,193,000 after purchasing an additional 2,395 shares in the last quarter. Barings LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $829,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 12,050.0% during the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,636,000. Finally, GAM Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,146,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $251.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14, a P/E/G ratio of 8.22 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50-day moving average of $255.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $259.63. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.25 and a fifty-two week high of $316.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $479.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $474.66 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 35.48% and a return on equity of 11.61%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.92 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 15.690-16.190 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 3.890-4.010 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $273.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $305.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $275.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $278.00 target price on Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $283.87.

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.