Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. Decreases Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. lowered its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 30.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,918 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,739 shares during the period. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC.'s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ESS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $471,258,000. Wealthquest Corp bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $384,606,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 35,500.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 448,205 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $137,406,000 after buying an additional 446,946 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 56.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $321,928,000 after buying an additional 404,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 570,786 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $162,925,000 after purchasing an additional 222,713 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $310.28.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of ESS stock traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $286.63. 80,723 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 422,095. The stock has a market cap of $18.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's fifty day moving average is $283.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $285.70. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.85 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 37.08% and a return on equity of 11.81%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 98.37%.

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.