Intech Investment Management LLC Buys New Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,040 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 36,761 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 28,850 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,235,000 after buying an additional 3,151 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $669,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 19,787 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,648,000 after acquiring an additional 2,390 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $303.37 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $293.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $19.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.90 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current 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 $2.57 dividend. 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 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ESS. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.16.

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.