Cerity Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 28.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,623 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $286,000. Tobam acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. JLP Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $2,802,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,643 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,631,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 40,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,212,000 after acquiring an additional 6,743 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:ESS opened at $247.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.26. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $252.85. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $238.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.60. The stock has a market cap of $15.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.80.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a $2.45 dividend. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 155.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Essex Property Trust from $225.00 to $223.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Bank of America upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $250.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $245.37.

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.