Allianz Asset Management GmbH Has $42.60 Million Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 42.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,168 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $42,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 162.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,109,000 after purchasing an additional 46,354 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,611,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on ESS. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock opened at $294.47 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $284.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $292.96. The company has a market capitalization of $18.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $225.40 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.92%.

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.