Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 0.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,001,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,977 shares during the quarter. Essex Property Trust makes up 1.5% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $272,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $761,760,000 after purchasing an additional 730,141 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $675,183,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $448,701,000 after buying an additional 147,130 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 744,175 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $182,185,000 after buying an additional 23,673 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 34.0% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 553,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,348,000 after acquiring an additional 140,294 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,233 shares of company stock worth $4,533,461 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE ESS opened at $300.05 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $285.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.85. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $307.75. The company has a market capitalization of $19.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). The business had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.77 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $268.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $244.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $282.37.

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.