Sanctuary Advisors LLC Has $626,000 Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 483 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $626,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth about $39,000. 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 worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 115 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ESS. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $311.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $226.84 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The business’s 50 day moving average is $286.44 and its 200-day moving average is $293.76.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

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.