Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Makes New Investment in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 735 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 600.0% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 3.4 %

ESS opened at $283.99 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $298.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $223.06 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.18, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 114.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ESS. Bank of America downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James cut Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.11.

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.