CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Acquires 9,116 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 137,098 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 9,116 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.21% of Essex Property Trust worth $39,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 486.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.11.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 over the last quarter. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ESS traded up $0.52 during trading on Thursday, reaching $277.61. The company had a trading volume of 134,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 483,396. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $240.57 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business's 50-day moving average is $290.62 and its 200 day moving average is $291.18. The stock has a market cap of $17.86 billion, a PE ratio of 24.06, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

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 net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $2.57 dividend. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.08%.

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.