Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 842 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 111.5% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 645.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tobam acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS stock traded down $3.17 on Wednesday, hitting $254.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 163,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 401,434. The stock has a market cap of $16.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $241.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.61. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.85 and a 1 year high of $258.06.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 119.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Raymond James raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $227.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $239.50 to $243.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $249.76.

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.