Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 1,152 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,777 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,152 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.09% of Essex Property Trust worth $17,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 486.8% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $355.00 price objective (down previously from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $344.00 to $320.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $310.83.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE ESS traded down $6.14 on Friday, hitting $283.61. 438,329 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 419,706. The company's 50 day moving average price is $278.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.85 and a twelve month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.83 EPS. Analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is 98.37%.

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.