Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 42 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 42 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $74,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of 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 period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ESS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $303.93 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $285.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.55. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $226.19 and a 52 week high of $317.73.

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, 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 forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given 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 3.38%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.08%.

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.