Czech National Bank Acquires 939 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,235 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 939 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 111.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 112.3% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 30,700.0% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock traded down $3.10 during trading on Monday, hitting $279.54. The company had a trading volume of 40,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 382,770. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $203.85 and a fifty-two week high of $292.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $277.13 and a 200 day moving average of $254.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.86.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). The firm had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.77 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 119.80%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,641,895.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $254.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $244.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $266.75.

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.