Golden State Equity Partners Sells 96 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Golden State Equity Partners lowered its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 5.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 96 shares during the quarter. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $16,703,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $315,000. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,126 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,347,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 46.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 317 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ESS shares. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $310.28.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $282.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.01, a P/E/G ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.85 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $281.53 and a 200-day moving average of $286.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 37.08% and a return on equity of 11.81%. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.37%.

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.