Tidal Investments LLC Acquires 1,648 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 99.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,297 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,648 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 600.0% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 121.8% during the 2nd 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. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ESS. Bank of America lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James cut shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price objective for the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.11.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $279.01 on Friday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $290.52. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $223.06 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.93 billion, a PE ratio of 32.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted 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). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The business had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.51%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

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.