Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Has $143,000 Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. decreased its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 39 shares during the quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $143,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 104.5% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1,247.2% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 485 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS opened at $284.04 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $293.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $291.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.26 billion, a PE ratio of 33.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $223.06 and a 52 week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 114.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on ESS shares. Mizuho lowered their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $305.42.

About Essex Property Trust

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.