Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 2,996 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 35,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,996 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $9,586,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the second quarter worth $34,000. Tobam increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 8,700.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 176 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $305.00 to $280.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Evercore decreased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $271.00 and set a “cautious” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Truist Financial cut their price target on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $273.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $275.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $283.87.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $251.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.22 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.25 and a 12-month high of $316.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $255.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.63.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company 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. Research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

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

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.