Waterfront Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 84,025 Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Waterfront Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 84,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $24,823,000. Essex Property Trust accounts for approximately 3.4% of Waterfront Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Waterfront Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Essex Property Trust as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 600.0% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position 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 during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,627.59. The trade was a 52.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $817,661.35. This trade represents a 73.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,949 shares of company stock valued at $5,663,763. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ESS. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Raymond James cut shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.00.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

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

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

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.49%.

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.