Aviva PLC Buys 45,542 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Aviva PLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1,878.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,542 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $13,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.53.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of ESS opened at $261.69 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.25 and a fifty-two week high of $316.29. The firm has a market cap of $16.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a PEG ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $262.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $272.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.01. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 45.46% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The company had revenue of $473.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.91 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.930-4.030 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 15.890-15.990 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 78.12%.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

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.