BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Has $3.17 Million Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp decreased its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,713 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,583 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at about $743,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 162.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,109,000 after purchasing an additional 46,354 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 237.7% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 8,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,537,000 after buying an additional 3,018 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,004,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $301.02 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $19.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.59 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $297.02 and a 200-day moving average of $287.81.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on ESS. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,627.59. This trade represents a 52.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total value of $2,546,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. This represents a 45.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,949 shares of company stock worth $5,663,763 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

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.