Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $109.93 Million Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. by 12.3%, owning 358,586 shares valued at approximately $109.93 million.
• Analysts' ratings vary: Mizuho and Truist Financial have lowered their price targets, while Raymond James and BMO Capital Markets have issued "outperform" ratings with targets ranging from $315 to $317.
• Essex Property Trust recently announced a quarterly dividend of $2.57 per share, yielding 4.0% annually, with a payout ratio of 82.64%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 12.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 358,586 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 39,397 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.56% of Essex Property Trust worth $109,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 9.2% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 44,806 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,716,000 after buying an additional 3,793 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.0% during the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 17,175 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,265,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at about $91,014,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 65.1% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 725,896 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $222,538,000 after buying an additional 286,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 9.2% during the first quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 946 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS traded up $3.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $259.56. The stock had a trading volume of 378,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 634,091. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $278.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $284.16. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $243.85 and a one year high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $16.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86, a P/E/G ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.99 by $0.04. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The company had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $466.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. 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 research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $335.00 to $298.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of Essex Property Trust from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.86.

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.