Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Has $142,000 Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 23.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 572 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $142,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ESS. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 88,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $475,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,614,782 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,667,195,000 after purchasing an additional 184,047 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 53,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $250.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $225.00 to $223.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $259.00 to $255.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $291.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $245.37.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $235.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 3.26 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The company has a market capitalization of $15.10 billion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.80. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $252.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $237.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.69.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 155.31%.

About Essex Property Trust

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.