Avanza Fonder AB Purchases New Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,056 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,443,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of 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. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1,247.2% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 485 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho dropped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $305.42.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $283.20. The company had a trading volume of 364,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 355,089. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $223.06 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $293.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.80. 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 stock has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). The firm had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarter last year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.49%.

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.