Insider Selling: Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Director Sells $167,670.00 in Stock

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total transaction of $167,670.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,394 shares in the company, valued at $669,003.30. The trade was a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $272.90 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $258.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $256.74. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $238.46 and a 12-month high of $294.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $17.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66, a PEG ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 0.72.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.03% and a return on equity of 10.00%. The company had revenue of $484.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $479.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.97 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. On average, analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $2.59 dividend. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.40%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,795,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Summitry LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 1,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $561,000. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 251,888 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $60,957,000 after purchasing an additional 41,846 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $281.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $268.00 to $262.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $278.00 to $281.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $284.50.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.