Stableford Capital II LLC Takes Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Stableford Capital II LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,686 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $486,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 314,833 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $78,060,000 after acquiring an additional 106,182 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 582.4% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 11,389 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,824,000 after purchasing an additional 9,720 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 10.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth about $173,000. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.5% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 11,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,765,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $292.62 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.79 billion, a PE ratio of 35.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $203.85 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $295.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $274.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). The business had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.77 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 119.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total value of $2,308,430.38. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $817,661.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.