Boston Partners Purchases 36,451 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Boston Partners boosted its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 607,775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,451 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned 0.95% of Essex Property Trust worth $173,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake 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 valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of ESS opened at $298.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.90, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $290.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.90 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

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 (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, 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $1,988,843.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,724,192.66. The trade was a 42.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust 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.