SG Americas Securities LLC Has $7.95 Million Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 80.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 116,751 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $7,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $508,381,000 after purchasing an additional 25,591 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $392,766,000 after acquiring an additional 183,947 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 754,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $222,800,000 after purchasing an additional 47,114 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the third 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 worth $212,583,000 after acquiring an additional 633,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 269,923 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James cut shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.53.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $277.52 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $223.06 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $291.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $292.06. The firm has a market cap of $17.84 billion, a PE ratio of 32.42, a PEG ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend 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.