New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $13.82 Million Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,083 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.07% of Essex Property Trust worth $13,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth approximately $82,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position 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 worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of 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. Barclays upped their target price 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. Piper Sandler reiterated 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. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $310.94.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:ESS traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $287.48. The stock had a trading volume of 301,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 426,301. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $243.85 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $18.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.78. The business's 50 day moving average is $283.17 and its 200-day moving average is $285.69.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.37%.

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.