Polymer Capital Management US LLC Acquires Shares of 2,483 Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,483 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $709,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ESS. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.6% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $541,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 30,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,933,000 after buying an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 6.9% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 10,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,188,000 after buying an additional 699 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 148.0% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 43,744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,923,000 after buying an additional 26,102 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ESS. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 7.7 %

NYSE:ESS opened at $271.80 on Monday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.90 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $17.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $296.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $294.07.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

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.