Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Grows Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $4,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth $39,000. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 104.5% in the third 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. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at $89,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1,247.2% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 485 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $283.19 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $223.06 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $294.20 and a 200-day moving average of $291.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.57 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 114.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on ESS shares. Bank of America downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. 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 objective for the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $305.42.

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.