Bank of Nova Scotia Lowers Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Bank of Nova Scotia decreased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 13.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,463 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,119 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $82,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 52.9% during the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.0%

ESS stock opened at $254.75 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $16.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $281.99 and its 200 day moving average is $285.32. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $243.85 and a one year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $465.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.47 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $320.00 to $309.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $308.26.

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.