Swiss National Bank Trims Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Swiss National Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 200,652 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $49,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 632.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,719,000 after purchasing an additional 12,954 shares in the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 357,268 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $3,304,000. JLP Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $2,802,000. Finally, Mariner LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE ESS opened at $255.63 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 3.19 and a quick ratio of 3.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.25, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $240.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.28. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $203.85 and a 12 month high of $255.66.

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 given a $2.45 dividend. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ESS shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $239.50 to $243.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $259.00 to $255.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $291.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust 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.