Pacer Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Essex Property Trust by 38.0%, selling 2,034 shares and holding 3,325 shares worth approximately $1,019,000 as of the latest SEC filing.
• Essex Property Trust reported earnings per share of $4.03 for the quarter, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $2.57, with a 3.82% yield.
• Analysts provide a mixed outlook for Essex Property Trust, with ratings ranging from sell to outperform, highlighting a current average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $313.03.

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 38.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,325 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,034 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 85.2% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 52.9% in the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS traded down $1.08 during trading on Monday, hitting $255.65. 266,864 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 487,914. The company has a market cap of $16.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.80. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $283.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $285.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 for 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 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. Piper Sandler cut shares of Essex Property Trust from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $355.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho reduced 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 report on Friday, May 23rd. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $308.47.

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.