Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 45 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 632.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,719,000 after buying an additional 12,954 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,304,000. Mariner LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. JLP Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,802,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 27,246 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,779,000 after buying an additional 2,524 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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 report on Tuesday, April 9th. Mizuho raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $250.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $281.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $245.37.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.3 %

ESS opened at $232.63 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $237.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 3.26 and a quick ratio of 3.26. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $252.85.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 155.31%.

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.