Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Shares Sold by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 64.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 12,966 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,958 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.4% in the third quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 45,087 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,309 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.8% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 27,619 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.1% during the third quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 27,899 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 95,042 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,439,000 after purchasing an additional 21,501 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $251.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $257.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $261.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.25 and a 12 month high of $316.29.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $473.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.11 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 45.46% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.91 EPS. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Essex Property Trust from $294.00 to $284.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $305.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $280.00 to $268.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $285.70.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc (NYSE: ESS) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on market-rate apartment communities and delivers a full suite of property services including leasing, resident services, asset management, and capital improvement programs designed to preserve and enhance long‑term property values.

Essex concentrates its portfolio in West Coast markets, with a significant presence in California and the Pacific Northwest.