Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Empire State Realty Trust from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

Empire State Realty Trust Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE ESRT opened at $8.68 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.98 and a beta of 1.40. Empire State Realty Trust has a 12-month low of $8.49 and a 12-month high of $11.62. The company has a current ratio of 3.72, a quick ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.34.

Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $155.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $192.62 million. Empire State Realty Trust had a return on equity of 2.84% and a net margin of 6.45%. Equities research analysts expect that Empire State Realty Trust will post 0.88 EPS for the current year.

Empire State Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.035 per share. This represents a $0.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Empire State Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Empire State Realty Trust

In other Empire State Realty Trust news, EVP Thomas P. Durels sold 3,193 shares of Empire State Realty Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.90, for a total transaction of $34,803.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 96,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,055,196.30. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 13.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Empire State Realty Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vestcor Inc raised its stake in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 308.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 125,231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,388,000 after buying an additional 94,582 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,615,985 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,905,000 after buying an additional 98,850 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 143.8% in the 4th quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 262,689 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,711,000 after buying an additional 154,920 shares in the last quarter. Vision Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 79.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vision Capital Corp now owns 2,802,948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,057,000 after buying an additional 1,245,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 95.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 228,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,533,000 after buying an additional 111,589 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.10% of the company’s stock.

About Empire State Realty Trust

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: ESRT) is a NYC-focused REIT that owns and operates a portfolio of modernized, amenitized, and well-located office, retail, and multifamily assets. The company is the recognized leader in energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality. ESRT’s flagship Empire State Building – the “World’s Most Famous Building” – includes its Observatory, Tripadvisor’s 2023 Travelers’ Choice Awards: Best of the Best the #1 attraction in the US for two consecutive years.