Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 9,400 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 29.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,400 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.06% of Essex Property Trust worth $11,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 36.9% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 34,334 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,143,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at about $210,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.2% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 5,823 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at about $645,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 over the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on ESS. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $300.06 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $230.90 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $292.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $294.66. The firm has a market cap of $19.30 billion, a PE ratio of 26.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued 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 return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

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.