Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Stock Position Reduced by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 144 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $8,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $212,583,000 after purchasing an additional 633,200 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $84,393,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 154.7% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $131,282,000 after acquiring an additional 269,923 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $392,766,000 after acquiring an additional 183,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,443,000 after acquiring an additional 150,927 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.53.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $288.09 on Monday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $225.40 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $285.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.93 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 (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.92%.

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.