Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 23.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 139,924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 42,096 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $39,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,041,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $307.48 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $287.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $294.25. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.90 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.78 billion, a PE ratio of 26.64, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Equities analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This is a boost 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ESS shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.63.

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.