Intact Investment Management Inc. Has $2.01 Million Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Intact Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 54.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 9,800 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $2,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 47.6% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 11,217 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,379,000 after buying an additional 3,618 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.8% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 35,333 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,494,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 12.9% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,099 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 173.9% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 135,008 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,634,000 after buying an additional 85,725 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $227.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $225.00 to $223.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 13th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $245.37.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE ESS traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $246.92. The company had a trading volume of 422,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 317,451. The company has a market capitalization of $15.85 billion, a PE ratio of 39.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $238.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.26, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $252.85.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $2.45 dividend. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 155.31%.

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.