Diversify Wealth Management LLC Has $3.68 Million Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 77.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,528 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 5,924 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 162.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,109,000 after purchasing an additional 46,354 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $541,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 92.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 237.7% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 1,761 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of 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 increased their target price for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 price target on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.42.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.2 %

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $283.20 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $293.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $291.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.08, a PEG ratio of 5.21 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. 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 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). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The business had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

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.