Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Purchased by CWA Asset Management Group LLC

CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.7% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.6% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the second quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 8,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 20,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,636,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $272.60 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $223.06 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $294.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $17.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James cut 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 upped their target price for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.17.

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.