Sentry Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 302 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $89,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $115,881,000 after buying an additional 424,157 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth about $98,594,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $84,393,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $448,701,000 after purchasing an additional 147,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 34.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 553,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $135,348,000 after purchasing an additional 140,294 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America lowered Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.40.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 3.7 %

NYSE:ESS opened at $291.00 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $204.64 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $18.70 billion, a PE ratio of 34.00, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $297.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.68.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $730,627.59. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

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.