Caprock Group LLC Purchases Shares of 1,548 Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,548 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $442,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth about $89,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ESS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of 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 shares of Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $305.74.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded down $6.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $291.91. The stock had a trading volume of 444,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 474,074. 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 company has a market cap of $18.76 billion, a PE ratio of 25.30, a P/E/G ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $223.06 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company's 50 day moving average is $286.78 and its 200-day moving average is $292.42.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.92%.

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.