Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 77 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 77 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 4.7% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,041,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $306.53.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $288.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92. 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 52-week low of $225.40 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $285.95 and a 200 day moving average of $292.53.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.