UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Acquires 1,627 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,995 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,627 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $7,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,611,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $304.69 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.90 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $19.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $294.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.76.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on ESS shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.16.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

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.