Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 977,700 shares, a decline of 5.1% from the October 31st total of 1,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 375,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $303.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $19.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.51, a P/E/G ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essex Property Trust has a 12-month low of $218.59 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $297.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.56.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The company had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ESS. Bank of America lowered Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at $730,627.59. This trade represents a 52.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total value of $2,308,430.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. This trade represents a 73.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,949 shares of company stock valued at $5,663,763. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 214.3% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 600.0% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Company 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.