Aurora Investment Managers LLC. Increases Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Aurora Investment Managers LLC. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the period. Essex Property Trust accounts for approximately 2.3% of Aurora Investment Managers LLC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Aurora Investment Managers LLC.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.7% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,041,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.6% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $283.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $293.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $291.96. The stock has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $223.06 and a 1-year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The firm had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $305.42.

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.