CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Boosts Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,098 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 9,116 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned about 0.21% of Essex Property Trust worth $39,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth $913,000. Investure LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Investure LLC now owns 73,031 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $20,846,000 after buying an additional 7,031 shares during the period. Farringdon Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $303,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $35,701,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 4,684 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $1,988,843.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,192.66. This trade represents a 42.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last quarter. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded up $1.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $277.70. 368,921 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 486,294. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.28. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $239.37 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The company has a market cap of $17.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.06, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (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%. Equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is 89.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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 note on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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, February 6th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $304.00 to $303.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.11.

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.