Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Invests $208,000 in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at $384,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at $204,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 311.3% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1,247.2% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 485 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 12.1% in the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ESS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James lowered Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho cut 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. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $306.53.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.5 %

ESS opened at $290.80 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $286.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.46. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $223.06 and a one year high of $317.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.92%.

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.