Quantinno Capital Management LP Acquires 113,861 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 42.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 381,042 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 113,861 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $92,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 67.8% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on ESS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $272.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essex Property Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $299.08.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total value of $167,670.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,394 shares in the company, valued at $669,003.30. The trade was a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $285.78 and a 200 day moving average of $265.27. The stock has a market cap of $18.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.70.

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

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $2.59 per share. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.40%.

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.