Venturi Wealth Management LLC Purchases 990 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 315.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,304 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 104.5% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on 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. Mizuho dropped their price target on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:ESS opened at $294.37 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $285.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.80. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $225.40 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $2.57 dividend. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.92%.

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.