Rush Island Management LP Has $195.51 Million Stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Rush Island Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 26.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 807,893 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 170,682 shares during the period. Essex Property Trust accounts for 13.1% of Rush Island Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Rush Island Management LP’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $195,510,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 50.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 699 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 42.6% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 381,042 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $92,212,000 after purchasing an additional 113,861 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,206,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 30.4% during the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 2,998 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 59.2% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,054 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Essex Property Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $272.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $296.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group set a $290.00 price objective on Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $310.00 to $352.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $299.08.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $294.42 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $286.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.58. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $238.46 and a twelve month high of $303.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a PE ratio of 33.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 0.70.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.96 by ($2.31). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.03% and a return on equity of 10.00%. The business had revenue of $484.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $479.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.97 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $2.59 per share. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 116.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total transaction of $167,670.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $669,003.30. The trade was a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc (NYSE: ESS) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on market-rate apartment communities and delivers a full suite of property services including leasing, resident services, asset management, and capital improvement programs designed to preserve and enhance long?term property values.

Essex concentrates its portfolio in West Coast markets, with a significant presence in California and the Pacific Northwest.