Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Acquires 449 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 1,247.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 485 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 55.7% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the period. Vert Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.5% in the first quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 26,669 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 116.6% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,060 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 13.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,926 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the period. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 12.2% in the first quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 4,154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $293.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a PE ratio of 35.87, a PEG ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $296.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $276.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). The firm had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.77 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.55 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 119.80%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total transaction of $2,546,008.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,627.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total value of $2,546,008.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on ESS. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.40.

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.