Provident Investment Management Inc. Sells 1,672 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Key Points

• Provident Investment Management Inc. has completed a 24% reduction in its stake in Essex Property Trust, selling 1,672 shares, leaving it with 5,302 shares valued at approximately $1.625 million.
• Essex Property Trust recently announced a quarterly dividend of $2.57 per share, representing an annualized amount of $10.28 and a yield of 4.0%.
• Essex Property Trust's stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price around $308.26.

Provident Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 24.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,302 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,672 shares during the period. Essex Property Trust makes up 0.2% of Provident Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Provident Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth approximately $82,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $112,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 52.9% in the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler cut Essex Property Trust from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $355.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $308.26.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.0%

ESS traded down $2.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $254.48. 367,407 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 635,696. The company's fifty day moving average price is $281.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $285.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a P/E/G ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 0.80. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.85 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 previous year, the firm earned $3.94 earnings per share. 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is 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.