Vest Financial LLC Grows Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 188,098 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 18,610 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC owned approximately 0.29% of Essex Property Trust worth $53,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in 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 acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at about $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 in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $305.74.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $291.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.10, a PEG ratio of 6.60 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 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $287.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.40. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $223.06 and a twelve month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted 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 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. Research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.92%.

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.