Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has invested $617,000 in Essex Property Trust, purchasing 2,013 shares during the first quarter.
• Essex Property Trust has reported a quarterly EPS of $4.03, surpassing analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $2.57, yielding 4.0% annually.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Essex Property Trust, with a consensus target price of $308.26 and a majority rating it as a "Hold."

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,013 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $617,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth $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 worth $137,406,000 after purchasing an additional 446,946 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $321,928,000 after purchasing an additional 404,892 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 64.0% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,701,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock traded down $2.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $254.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 367,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 635,696. The business has a fifty day moving average of $280.91 and a 200 day moving average of $284.96. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.85 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $16.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $320.00 to $309.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $308.26.

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.