158 Shares in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Acquired by Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc.

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 158 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $45,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,385 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,252,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 296.6% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 9,686 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,765,000 after acquiring an additional 7,244 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 188,098 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,691,000 after acquiring an additional 18,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $291.36 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $223.06 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $286.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $18.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 84.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays decreased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.53.

About Essex Property Trust

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.