AGF Management Ltd. Cuts Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

AGF Management Ltd. lessened its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 133 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $508,381,000 after buying an additional 25,591 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $426,532,000 after acquiring an additional 70,785 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $392,766,000 after acquiring an additional 183,947 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 772,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $220,612,000 after acquiring an additional 18,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $212,583,000 after purchasing an additional 633,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $294.95 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $230.90 and a 52-week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ESS. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.16.

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.