Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Raises Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 128.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 457 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.6% in the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.6% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,405 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $233.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $15.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.80. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $203.85 and a 12-month high of $252.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.51.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 155.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. Mizuho raised 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 research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $291.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $245.37.

About Essex Property Trust

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.