Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Sells 1,187 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Key Points

• Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board reduced its stake in Essex Property Trust by 25.3% during the first quarter, now holding 3,497 shares valued at approximately $1.07 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in Essex Property Trust, with CWA Asset Management raising its stake by 10% and Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services increasing theirs by 15.1%.
• Essex Property Trust recently reported earnings per share of $4.03, exceeding analysts' expectations, while announcing a quarterly dividend of $2.57 per share, yielding 4.0%.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lowered its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 25.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,497 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,187 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $82,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter worth about $112,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 52.9% during the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $320.00 to $309.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler downgraded Essex Property Trust from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $355.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $303.91.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.8%

ESS traded up $1.90 on Tuesday, hitting $253.98. The company had a trading volume of 382,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 494,213. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $280.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $284.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.85 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company has a market cap of $16.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42, a PEG ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 0.80.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.47 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

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

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.