Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 162.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,109,000 after acquiring an additional 46,354 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $541,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 92.2% in 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. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 237.7% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ESS opened at $283.20 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $223.06 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $293.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The firm 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 last year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.58 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ESS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America lowered Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.42.

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.