Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Buys 5,965 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 112.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,965 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $3,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth $4,329,000. Sigma Planning Corp raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 3,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 42.0% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 149,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,597,000 after purchasing an additional 44,168 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 56,929 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,250,000 after purchasing an additional 15,608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 4,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,205,000 after buying an additional 705 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $298.37 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $225.40 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $19.18 billion, a PE ratio of 25.86, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $284.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $293.29.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.63.

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.