Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 312 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 36.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ESS. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,776,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares during the period. ING Groep NV boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 54.2% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 8,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,537,000 after purchasing an additional 3,018 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 4.2% in the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 18.0% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 14,242 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 162.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,109,000 after purchasing an additional 46,354 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ESS. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Raymond James cut Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.4 %

ESS stock opened at $309.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.01 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $210.36 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $285.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’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 value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. The trade was a 48.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,627.59. The trade was a 52.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.