Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 77 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 77 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 162.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,109,000 after buying an additional 46,354 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $541,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 92.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $828,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 8,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,537,000 after buying an additional 3,018 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ESS. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James cut Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $306.53.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE ESS opened at $288.09 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $225.40 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $285.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $292.53. The stock has a market cap of $18.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.92%.

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.