Wealthstar Advisors LLC Takes $1.49 Million Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Wealthstar Advisors LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,855 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,488,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Gen Wealth Partners Inc raised its stake in 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 valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 6.3% in 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 period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in 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 worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $310.28.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE:ESS traded down $1.24 on Wednesday, reaching $283.53. The stock had a trading volume of 433,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 422,019. 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 company has a market capitalization of $18.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.85 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $282.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $285.83.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business earned $3.83 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.37%.

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.