Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Buys 53 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $154,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 13,194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,766,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,528 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,678,000 after acquiring an additional 5,924 shares during the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $252,000. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of ESS opened at $284.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $18.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $223.06 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $288.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.16.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ESS. Barclays cut their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.32.

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.