California State Teachers Retirement System Grows Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 30,769.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 28,530,332 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,437,908 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.44% of Essex Property Trust worth $8,319,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 523.1% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 162 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 67.8% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $277.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.22, a PEG ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 0.69. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $238.46 and a 52 week high of $303.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $288.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $272.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $2.62. The firm had revenue of $489.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.12 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 21.48% and a return on equity of 7.33%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.03 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.930-4.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 16.030-16.250 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.59 per share. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 161.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ESS. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $310.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $273.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, UBS Group set a $290.00 price objective on Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.14.

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.