74,114 Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors reduced its Essex Property Trust stake by 11.4%, selling 74,114 shares in the third quarter and retaining 573,853 shares valued at approximately $154.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 96.51% of ESS.
• Essex Property Trust shares opened at $264.04, down 0.4%, and have traded between $238.46 and $303.35 over the past year. The company recently reported quarterly revenue of $492.69 million but missed earnings estimates, posting EPS of $1.52 versus the $4.01 consensus.
• The REIT paid a quarterly dividend of $2.59, equivalent to an annualized $10.36 dividend and a 3.9% yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $298.27.

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 11.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 573,853 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 74,114 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.89% of Essex Property Trust worth $154,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the second quarter worth $80,281,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,889,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the second quarter valued at about $11,451,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,204,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,166,555,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of ESS opened at $264.04 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $238.46 and a 52 week high of $303.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.99, a PEG ratio of 7.82 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $274.49 and a 200-day moving average of $269.67.

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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.01 by ($2.49). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 6.24%. The company had revenue of $492.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $491.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a $2.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is presently 192.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.75 to $285.50 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore set a $299.00 price objective on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $298.00 to $297.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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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