Vest Financial LLC Boosts Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Vest Financial LLC raised its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 18.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 183,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,537 shares during the period. Essex Property Trust accounts for 1.2% of Vest Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Vest Financial LLC owned about 0.29% of Essex Property Trust worth $49,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $761,760,000 after buying an additional 730,141 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $675,183,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $448,701,000 after purchasing an additional 147,130 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.4% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,001,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $272,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 744,175 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $182,185,000 after purchasing an additional 23,673 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,233 shares of company stock worth $4,533,461 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $288.30.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS opened at $307.96 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $286.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $264.71. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $203.85 and a 52-week high of $308.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.77 billion, a PE ratio of 37.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The company had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.77 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

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.