Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Has $2.48 Million Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 22.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,691 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,576 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $471,258,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1,620.1% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 197,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,835,000 after buying an additional 185,958 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 225,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,443,000 after buying an additional 150,927 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $36,450,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $35,701,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.11.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $271.23 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. 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 52 week low of $235.40 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $291.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $291.38.

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 for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $2.57 dividend. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

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.