Fifth Third Bancorp Raises Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,023 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 985 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 929 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 778 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 34.8% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 190 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 56.3% in 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 owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ESS shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Raymond James Financial raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $355.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.17.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $267.78 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $17.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 6.82 and a beta of 0.83. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.85 and a fifty-two week high of $316.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $266.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $277.83.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $466.47 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $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. Analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 82.64%.

Essex Property Trust Profile

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.