Intact Investment Management Inc. Buys Shares of 2,300 Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $705,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in 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 in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth $653,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 10.0% during the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 883 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $7,027,000. Finally, Yoffe Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $358,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ESS shares. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $355.00 price target (down from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $310.28.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $286.35. 486,229 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 417,372. The company has a market capitalization of $18.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.85 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $281.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $286.35.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 11.81% and a net margin of 37.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.37%.

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.