Spirit of America Management Corp NY Cuts Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Spirit of America Management Corp NY lessened its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,986 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,750 shares during the quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ESS. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,388,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,540,570,000 after buying an additional 129,806 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 9.5% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,157,617 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $309,848,000 after acquiring an additional 100,730 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 929,187 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $248,703,000 after acquiring an additional 5,483 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 882,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $233,668,000 after acquiring an additional 32,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resolution Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 848,629 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $240,501,000 after purchasing an additional 26,661 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $242.63 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $238.46 and a 1-year high of $309.07. The company has a market capitalization of $15.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.31, a PEG ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $252.11 and a 200-day moving average of $256.83.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $479.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the business posted $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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.59 per share. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.57. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $282.00 target price (down from $304.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Monday, December 15th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, February 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $282.00.

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.