Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Bought by Versant Capital Management Inc

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 39.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 509 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 104.5% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1,247.2% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 485 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of ESS opened at $284.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $223.06 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $18.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $296.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.61.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ESS. Bank of America cut Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $303.28.

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.