Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. Has $1.20 Million Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. reduced its position 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 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,918 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,739 shares during the quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC.'s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 486.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 85.2% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $285.33. The company had a trading volume of 468,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 424,196. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $283.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $285.70. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.85 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $18.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $355.00 target price (down from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $310.28.

Essex Property Trust 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.