Sanctuary Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 92.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 600.0% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 121.8% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.11.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $284.33 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $298.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.02. The company has a market cap of $18.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $223.06 and a 52 week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its 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). The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.49%.

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.