Ieq Capital LLC Acquires 705 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 20.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $4,041,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ESS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS opened at $298.37 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $225.40 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.86, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $284.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.29.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.