Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT) Raised to "Hold" at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Separately, Wolfe Research upgraded Empire State Realty Trust from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th.

Empire State Realty Trust Stock Down 2.5 %

ESRT traded down $0.18 during trading on Thursday, hitting $6.86. The company had a trading volume of 668,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,181,601. Empire State Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $6.72 and a 1-year high of $11.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 3.72 and a quick ratio of 3.72. The company has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $8.61 and a 200-day moving average of $9.92.

Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $155.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $192.62 million. Empire State Realty Trust had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 2.84%. As a group, analysts forecast that Empire State Realty Trust will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Empire State Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.035 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Empire State Realty Trust's payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Thomas P. Durels sold 5,779 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total transaction of $46,405.37. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $449,904.84. This trade represents a 9.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 30,122 shares of company stock worth $242,761 in the last three months. 13.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Empire State Realty Trust

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,844,999 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $204,800,000 after acquiring an additional 461,421 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,235,041 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $95,306,000 after acquiring an additional 2,750,045 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,720,315 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $38,394,000 after acquiring an additional 90,758 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,419,970 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $35,302,000 after acquiring an additional 13,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 2,886,750 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,791,000 after purchasing an additional 601,077 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.10% of the company's stock.

About Empire State Realty Trust

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc NYSE: ESRT is a NYC-focused REIT that owns and operates a portfolio of modernized, amenitized, and well-located office, retail, and multifamily assets. The company is the recognized leader in energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality. ESRT's flagship Empire State Building - the "World's Most Famous Building" - includes its Observatory, Tripadvisor's 2023 Travelers' Choice Awards: Best of the Best the #1 attraction in the US for two consecutive years.