Certuity LLC Acquires Shares of 789 Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Certuity LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 789 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 104.5% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS opened at $291.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28, a P/E/G ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $286.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $292.54. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $225.09 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.

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

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 84.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $306.53.

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.