National Bank of Canada FI Cuts Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

National Bank of Canada FI reduced its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 41,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,644 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $11,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $229,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ESS. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 7.7 %

ESS stock opened at $271.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average of $296.16 and a 200-day moving average of $294.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $230.90 and a one year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $1,988,843.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,724,192.66. The trade was a 42.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.