Strs Ohio Trims Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Strs Ohio lowered its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,441 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,377 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $6,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,405 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 89.4% in the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 13th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Essex Property Trust from $259.00 to $255.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Essex Property Trust from $225.00 to $223.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $245.37.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:ESS opened at $233.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $237.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.51. The stock has a market cap of $15.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.80. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.85 and a 1 year high of $252.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.26.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 155.31%.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.