Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 14,056 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lowered its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,989 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 14,056 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.33% of Essex Property Trust worth $57,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trust Investment Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth $217,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,167,000. Sienna Gestion raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 12.5% during the second quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 1,303 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 10.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 4,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 46,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ESS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.10.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE ESS opened at $306.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.66 billion, a PE ratio of 37.43, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $203.85 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $292.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 EPS 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 company had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 119.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,500. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total transaction of $2,546,008.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,559.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

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.