Federated Hermes Inc. Has $383,000 Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 59.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,930 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,353,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,955,205,000 after purchasing an additional 61,645 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,758,174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $500,688,000 after acquiring an additional 32,102 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth $471,258,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $426,532,000 after purchasing an additional 70,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 772,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $220,612,000 after purchasing an additional 18,704 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. The trade was a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last three months. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $275.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.90 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $291.83 and a 200-day moving average of $291.63.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.11.

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.