Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Stake Lowered by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp decreased its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,563 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 197 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ESS. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 632.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,719,000 after buying an additional 12,954 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 201.1% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 534,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $132,639,000 after acquiring an additional 357,268 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,304,000. JLP Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,802,000. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $255.63 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.28. The company has a market cap of $16.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.79. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $203.85 and a 12 month high of $255.66. The company has a quick ratio of 3.19, a current ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ESS. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $259.00 to $255.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $227.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Raymond James upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $249.76.

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.