Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Acquires 416 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 132,317 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned 0.21% of Essex Property Trust worth $37,635,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 104.5% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ESS shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $306.53.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $288.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $225.40 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $285.95 and its 200 day moving average is $292.53.

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

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 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.