TRUE Private Wealth Advisors Takes $204,000 Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

TRUE Private Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 632.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,719,000 after buying an additional 12,954 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $3,304,000. JLP Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $2,802,000. Mariner LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 704 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 27,246 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,779,000 after buying an additional 2,524 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ESS shares. Bank of America raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $250.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $259.00 to $255.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $225.00 to $223.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $245.37.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

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

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 paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 155.31%.

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.