Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Lowers Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. reduced its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 182,678 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 19,874 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $52,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings 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 valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 104.5% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth $89,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ESS. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.32.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $276.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $290.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $292.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $223.06 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73.

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

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 114.49%.

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.