CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS – Free Report) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,804,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,166 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,822,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.5% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 936 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 168.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 151.8% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 486 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at about $84,393,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ESS shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.63.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on ESS

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $294.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $225.40 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $285.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $292.80.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Equities research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 84.92%.

Essex Property Trust Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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