6,856 Shares in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Bought by Groupama Asset Managment

Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 6,856 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,939,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.7 %

ESS opened at $307.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $19.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.65, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $230.90 and a one year high of $317.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $295.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.62.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ESS. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

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.