First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1,204.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 149,247 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 137,810 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.23% of Essex Property Trust worth $36,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 255,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $66,868,000 after purchasing an additional 6,422 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $230,690,000. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 548,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $143,405,000 after purchasing an additional 31,261 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 160,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,901,000 after purchasing an additional 36,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,679,607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $439,520,000 after buying an additional 301,349 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $290.67 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $238.46 and a 1-year high of $303.35. The stock has a market cap of $18.68 billion, a PE ratio of 32.66, a P/E/G ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $285.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $265.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by ($2.31). The company had revenue of $484.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $479.89 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.03% and a return on equity of 10.00%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.11 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $2.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 116.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group set a $290.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $310.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $299.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total transaction of $167,670.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,394 shares in the company, valued at $669,003.30. This represents a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc (NYSE: ESS) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on market-rate apartment communities and delivers a full suite of property services including leasing, resident services, asset management, and capital improvement programs designed to preserve and enhance long‑term property values.

Essex concentrates its portfolio in West Coast markets, with a significant presence in California and the Pacific Northwest.