Citigroup Inc. Buys 87,306 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 98.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 175,688 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 87,306 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.27% of Essex Property Trust worth $47,025,000 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. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,054 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 288 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 57.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 12,919 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,458,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays restated a “positive” rating and issued a $292.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $282.00 price target (down from $304.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $280.00 to $268.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $305.00 to $280.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $283.87.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $258.20 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $255.66 and a 200 day moving average of $259.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $16.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.80, a P/E/G ratio of 8.02 and a beta of 0.74. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.25 and a 12 month high of $316.29.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.00 by ($0.02). The firm 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $2.59 dividend. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.57. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 98.75%.

Essex Property Trust 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.