JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has $151.60 Million Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 45.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 513,153 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 420,197 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.80% of Essex Property Trust worth $151,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.6% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,196 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $870,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 17,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,741,000 after buying an additional 454 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.8% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 132,424 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,046,000 after buying an additional 2,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the second quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 4,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $285.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $223.06 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $296.95 and a 200-day moving average of $291.74. 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 data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 114.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ESS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.11.

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.