Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Raises Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 238,859 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 4,964 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.37% of Essex Property Trust worth $73,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 4,624 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,320,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,952 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 778 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 17.7% during 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. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS traded down $1.24 on Wednesday, reaching $283.53. 433,393 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 422,773. The stock has a market cap of $18.26 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $282.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $285.83. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.85 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 98.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ESS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $355.00 price target (down from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $310.28.

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.