National Pension Service Has $32.66 Million Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

National Pension Service reduced its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 114,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,717 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $32,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 46,354 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,611,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at about $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,408,000 after buying an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $311.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $226.84 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $286.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $293.76.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 89.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $306.63.

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.