Intact Investment Management Inc. Decreases Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Intact Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 54.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 9,800 shares during the quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 111.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 645.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobam bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $259.00 to $255.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America raised shares of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $227.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $281.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $245.37.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded down $0.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $246.92. The stock had a trading volume of 422,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 317,451. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $252.85. The company has a market capitalization of $15.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.13, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 3.26, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $238.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.90.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.