Sentry Investment Management LLC Takes $89,000 Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 302 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $89,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 131,901 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,966,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 121,148 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,790,000 after purchasing an additional 20,334 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 205.5% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 202,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,838,000 after purchasing an additional 136,240 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 29,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,770,000 after purchasing an additional 3,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 14.7% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $291.00 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $204.64 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a market cap of $18.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.00, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $297.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.68.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ESS. UBS Group raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given 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 $293.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,627.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

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.