Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 57,173 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 995,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,173 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.55% of Essex Property Trust worth $240,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 67.8% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter worth $54,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $291.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $296.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $293.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $278.00 to $281.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $299.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.47% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS opened at $293.61 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $264.75. The company has a market cap of $18.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $238.46 and a 12-month high of $303.35.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by ($2.31). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.03% and a return on equity of 10.00%. The business had revenue of $484.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $479.89 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.97 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. Research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.11 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 Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid 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 presently 116.40%.

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.