Waterfront Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Waterfront Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 84,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $24,823,000. Essex Property Trust makes up approximately 3.4% of Waterfront Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $212,583,000 after buying an additional 633,200 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,881,000 after purchasing an additional 424,157 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $98,594,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $84,393,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $392,766,000 after purchasing an additional 183,947 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total transaction of $2,308,430.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,661.35. This represents a 73.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,627.59. This trade represents a 52.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 17,949 shares of company stock worth $5,663,763. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $312.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $20.11 billion, a PE ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $297.04 and a 200-day moving average of $286.65. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $210.36 and a one year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ESS shares. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

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.