Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 100 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.7% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,041,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $288.09 on Tuesday. 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 $225.40 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $18.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s fifty day moving average is $285.71 and its 200 day moving average is $292.73.

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

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the topic of several analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho cut their price objective on 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. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $306.53.

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.