Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 37.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,929 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,608 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.09% of Essex Property Trust worth $16,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings 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 worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $294.47 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $285.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $292.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ESS shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $306.63.

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.