Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Stake Lifted by Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 393.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 69,629 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 55,508 shares during the period. Essex Property Trust accounts for approximately 0.6% of Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned 0.11% of Essex Property Trust worth $18,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 57.5% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 70.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $278.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $281.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $275.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.00.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $249.61 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $254.18 and a 200-day moving average of $258.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $16.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 7.85 and a beta of 0.73. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.25 and a twelve month high of $310.10.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $479.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 business earned $3.92 EPS. 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, analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $2.59 dividend. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.57. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 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.