Intact Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $705,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 4,624 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,320,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,952 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,126 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,178,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.6% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,871 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $355.00 price objective (down from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $310.28.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 2.2%

NYSE:ESS traded up $6.07 on Thursday, reaching $287.97. 603,036 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 420,461. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.88 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 quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $281.78 and a 200-day moving average of $286.23.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 37.08% and a return on equity of 11.81%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 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.