Kera Capital Partners Inc. Buys New Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 904 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $212,583,000 after purchasing an additional 633,200 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $98,594,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $84,393,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 154.7% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $131,282,000 after acquiring an additional 269,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $392,766,000 after acquiring an additional 183,947 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the subject of several analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday. Mizuho decreased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $305.42.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $283.20 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $293.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.67. The company has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.08, a PEG ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $223.06 and a one year high of $317.73.

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

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

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.