Kera Capital Partners Inc. Has $330,000 Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Kera Capital Partners Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 19.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,078 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Kera Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,611,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $7,027,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 315.3% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ESS. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $312.17.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $278.07 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $281.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.18. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.85 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. The business had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $458.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.83 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 98.37%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last quarter. 3.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.