DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Raises Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 16.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,608 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,540 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.09% of Essex Property Trust worth $14,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $134,000. ING Groep NV grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 5,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,410,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $675,183,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 256.0% in the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 2,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 236,140 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,549,000 after buying an additional 34,931 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ESS shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $268.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $288.30.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $314.05 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $288.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.16. The company has a market cap of $20.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $203.85 and a twelve month high of $314.31.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.77 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.80%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.