Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Takes Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $913,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last three months. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.1 %

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $276.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.99, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $240.58 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $290.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $291.11. 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 (NYSE:ESS) last released 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 net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 89.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ESS. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.11.

Essex Property Trust 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.