National Bank of Canada FI Buys 18,391 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 44.7% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 18,391 shares, bringing their total to 59,491 shares valued at approximately $18.24 million.
• Essex Property Trust reported $4.03 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $3.99, and had a net margin of 43.51%.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $2.57 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $10.28 with a yield of 4.1%.

National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 44.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 59,491 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 18,391 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.09% of Essex Property Trust worth $18,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $384,606,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 35,500.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 448,205 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $137,406,000 after purchasing an additional 446,946 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $321,928,000 after purchasing an additional 404,892 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 570,786 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $162,925,000 after purchasing an additional 222,713 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 46.0% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 624,031 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $191,309,000 after buying an additional 196,519 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE ESS traded up $4.63 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $258.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 382,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 628,276. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $279.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $284.44. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.85 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 0.80.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 43.51%. The business had revenue of $465.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $466.47 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.94 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $283.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.86.

About Essex Property Trust

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.