Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Stock Position Lifted by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 37.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 56,929 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,608 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $16,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $294.47 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $285.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.81. The company has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 6.77 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 1.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $225.40 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. As a group, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.63.

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.