Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $14.57 Million Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,049 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $14,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 104.5% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth about $89,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ESS. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday. 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, January 6th. 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 on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Raymond James cut Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.74.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $291.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.76 billion, a PE ratio of 34.10, a P/E/G ratio of 6.60 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $287.15 and a 200-day moving average of $292.40. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $223.06 and a 52-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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.58 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio 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.