Voya Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Voya Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 37,011 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,313 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Essex Property Trust worth $11,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 56.3% during the first quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 136 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $355.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.66.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of ESS stock opened at $265.64 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $269.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $279.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $17.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 6.80 and a beta of 0.83.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by $0.04. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The firm had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $466.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.94 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 3.890-3.990 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 15.800-16.020 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.64%.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.