Swiss National Bank Increases Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 189,032 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 12,560 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $45,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 255,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $66,868,000 after acquiring an additional 6,422 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $230,690,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 160,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,901,000 after purchasing an additional 36,293 shares during the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 548,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $143,405,000 after purchasing an additional 31,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,679,607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $439,520,000 after purchasing an additional 301,349 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $272.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $299.08.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $293.05 on Thursday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $238.46 and a twelve month high of $303.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a market cap of $18.83 billion, a PE ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $284.37 and its 200 day moving average is $264.49.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.96 by ($2.31). The business had revenue of $484.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $479.89 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.03% and a return on equity of 10.00%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.97 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.11 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $2.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 116.40%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total value of $167,670.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $669,003.30. This represents a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Essex Property Trust

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.