SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 23,737 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 85.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,123 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 23,737 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $1,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 486.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 223 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $355.00 target price (down previously from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $310.83.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of ESS stock traded up $1.44 on Friday, reaching $285.45. 206,318 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 472,233. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $243.85 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a market cap of $18.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average of $280.40 and a 200-day moving average of $286.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 11.81% and a net margin of 37.08%. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $458.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is 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.