Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 70,785 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,785 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $426,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.7% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,041,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.2 %

ESS opened at $288.09 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $225.40 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $285.71 and its 200 day moving average is $292.63. The stock has a market cap of $18.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its earnings results 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ESS. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted 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 given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $306.53.

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.