ABC Arbitrage SA Purchases New Shares in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,294 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,082,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 35 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,041,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $288.09 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $285.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.53. The company has a market capitalization of $18.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $225.40 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.53.

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.