Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Has $1.25 Million Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 28.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,385 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 963 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 104.5% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $89,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ESS. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James cut shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $306.53.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $290.53 on Thursday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $223.06 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $286.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $18.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. On average, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.92%.

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.