ING Groep NV Decreases Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

ING Groep NV lessened its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,208 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 379 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in 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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. Mizuho dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.0 %

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $294.47 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $225.40 and a one year high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $18.93 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $284.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $292.96.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.92%.

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.