American Century Companies Inc. Lowers Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 9.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 264,887 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 26,826 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $70,900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Tobam boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 167.3% during the second quarter. Tobam now owns 131 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the second quarter worth $48,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $282.00 price target (down from $304.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Barclays restated a “positive” rating and issued a $292.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $278.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $305.00 to $280.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $283.31.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $256.22 on Thursday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.25 and a 12-month high of $310.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $255.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $16.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 0.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.98 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the business posted $3.92 EPS. 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. Research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.59 per share. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.57. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 98.75%.

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.