Sigma Planning Corp Has $1.14 Million Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 40.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 162.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,109,000 after buying an additional 46,354 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,611,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth about $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,516 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $298.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $19.18 billion, a PE ratio of 25.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $284.89 and a 200-day moving average of $293.29. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $225.40 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 84.92%.

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.