23,756 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Bought by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Mirae Asset Global Investments bought 23,756 shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter, valued at approximately $6.4 million.
• Institutional investors own 96.51% of Essex shares; BlackRock reported a particularly large position valued at about $2.17 billion.
• Essex reported quarterly revenue of $492.69 million, slightly above estimates, but EPS of $1.52 fell short of the $4.01 consensus. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $298.27.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 23,756 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $6,400,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $80,281,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,889,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,451,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,204,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,166,555,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $271.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.47 billion, a PE ratio of 50.39, a PEG ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 0.69. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $272.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $269.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $238.46 and a twelve month high of $303.35.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.01 by ($2.49). The business had revenue of $492.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $491.01 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 6.24%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $2.59 dividend. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is presently 192.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ESS. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $279.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Mizuho lowered Essex Property Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $292.75 to $285.50 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Essex Property Trust from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $320.00 target price (down from $326.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $298.27.

Essex Property Trust Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust that owns, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily apartment communities. The company focuses on providing rental housing in high-demand markets and generates revenue primarily from apartment rents and related resident services.

Founded in 1971 and headquartered in San Mateo, California, Essex operates primarily in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Seattle metropolitan area.

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