Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Lowers Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. cut its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 941 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 41 shares during the quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,334,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 162.7% in the third 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. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at $541,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,611,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 92.2% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.2 %

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $288.09 on Friday. The stock 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 company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $285.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $292.55. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $225.40 and a 52 week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. On average, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust 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.