Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 87,117 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its shareholdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.8%, owning 10,440,274 shares, valued at approximately $3.20 billion.
• Essex Property Trust has announced a dividend of $2.57 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 4.0% and a payout ratio of 82.64%.
• Equity analysts have raised price targets for Essex Property Trust, with a consensus price target now at $308.26, indicating an overall mixed sentiment with a majority holding rating.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,440,274 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 87,117 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 16.22% of Essex Property Trust worth $3,200,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 4.6% in the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 985 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 6.3% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 778 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 4.3% in the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,217 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Truist Financial set a $283.00 target price on Essex Property Trust and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial raised Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $302.86.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS stock traded up $1.60 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $255.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 88,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 491,516. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $279.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $284.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $16.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 0.80.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $465.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.47 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 43.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is presently 82.64%.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.