Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Purchased by Versant Capital Management Inc

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 39.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 509 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in 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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 104.5% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth about $89,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1,247.2% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 485 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.7 %

ESS opened at $284.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $296.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $291.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $18.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $223.06 and a 12 month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America cut Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.28.

Essex Property Trust 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.