SG Americas Securities LLC Cuts Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 85.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,123 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 23,737 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Vert Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.5% during the first quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 29,940 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,179,000 after acquiring an additional 1,573 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 13.7% during the first quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.9% during the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 197,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $60,471,000 after acquiring an additional 9,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 28.6% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 643 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $310.83.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $284.88 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $279.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $286.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.85 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.37%.

About Essex Property Trust

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.