Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Makes New $1.72 Million Investment in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,619 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,723,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 132,317 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,635,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $2,082,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 12,139 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,465,000 after buying an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $283.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.58, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $278.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $287.30. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. The company had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ESS. Mizuho reduced their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $344.00 to $320.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.83.

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.