Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Sells 198 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC decreased its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,938 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 198 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 300.0% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ESS. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $298.00 to $297.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. Piper Sandler lowered Essex Property Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $355.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.09.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $264.19 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.01 billion, a PE ratio of 21.24, a P/E/G ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $263.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $273.32. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.85 and a 12 month high of $316.29.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released 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. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 43.51%.The company had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $466.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.94 earnings per share. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 82.64%.

About Essex Property Trust

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.