Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 2,034 Shares of 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. trimmed its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 38.0% during the first 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 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ESS. Wealthquest Corp bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $384,606,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 35,500.1% in 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 buying an additional 446,946 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 56.0% in 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 buying an additional 404,892 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 222,713 shares during the period. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,450,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on ESS shares. Raymond James Financial raised 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 report on Tuesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $355.00 price target (down from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.92.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.4%

Essex Property Trust stock traded down $3.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $256.56. 830,760 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 522,891. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $283.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $285.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid 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%.

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.