Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,405 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 89.4% in the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 125 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $232.63 on Wednesday. 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 12-month low of $203.85 and a 12-month high of $252.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.87, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $237.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.47.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.21%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 155.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $291.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $281.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $225.00 to $223.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $237.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $245.37.

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.