Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 153.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 11,700 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $4,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 14.6% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 33,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,817,000 after buying an additional 4,298 shares in the last quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.7% in the first quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC now owns 4,235 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $981,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Asset Management Co. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 8.0% in the first quarter. Capstone Asset Management Co. now owns 6,387 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 139.6% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 950,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $220,119,000 after buying an additional 553,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 7.2% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 58,109 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,514,000 after buying an additional 3,888 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.96% of the company’s stock.
Essex Property Trust, Inc. (ESS) opened at 261.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.49 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $261.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $242.57. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $200.01 and a 1-year high of $268.97.
Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $335.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.80 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 38.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.68 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post $6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 30th were issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 28th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.74%.
Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. BidaskClub upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 20th. Evercore ISI lowered Essex Property Trust from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $261.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, June 12th. Jefferies Group LLC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $234.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, July 4th. BTIG Research lowered Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 30th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $289.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.00.
In related news, insider John D. Eudy sold 166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.79, for a total value of $42,129.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,596 shares in the company, valued at $2,181,578.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael J. Schall sold 13,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.63, for a total value of $3,452,946.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 58,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,761,423.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,826 shares of company stock valued at $8,272,799. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.
About Essex Property Trust
Essex Property Trust, Inc is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust. The Company is engaged primarily in the ownership, operation, management, acquisition, development and redevelopment of predominantly apartment communities, located along the West Coast. Its segments include Southern California, Northern California, Seattle Metro and Other real estate assets.
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