GAMMA Investing LLC Has $359,000 Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,259 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $508,381,000 after purchasing an additional 25,591 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised 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 buying an additional 183,947 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.4% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,001,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $272,682,000 after buying an additional 3,977 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 941,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $256,280,000 after buying an additional 12,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 754,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $222,800,000 after acquiring an additional 47,114 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Raymond James cut Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $305.17.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $272.88 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $223.06 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $17.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $295.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.68.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The firm had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.49%.

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.