Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Sold by Vestcor Inc

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc significantly reduced its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. by 85.4%, now owning just 1,215 shares worth $372,000 after selling over 7,000 shares.
• Multiple analysts have set new price targets for Essex Property Trust, with Barclays raising its target to $328.00 and Piper Sandler issuing a current target of $355.00 despite a previous adjustment downwards.
• Essex Property Trust declared a quarterly dividend of $2.57, with an annualized dividend amounting to $10.28, resulting in a 4.0% dividend yield.

Vestcor Inc reduced its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 85.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,215 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 7,131 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth $653,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 883 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $705,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 133,886 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $41,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,569 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $569,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ESS. Piper Sandler downgraded 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. Mizuho cut their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group cut their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank set a $309.00 price target on Essex Property Trust and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $308.26.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS traded down $2.16 on Friday, reaching $254.86. 159,473 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 493,872. The company's 50-day moving average price is $281.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $285.14. 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 current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.80.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 43.51%. The company had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $466.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is 82.64%.

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.