Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESRT) Short Interest Down 14.2% in December

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESRT) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,060,000 shares, a drop of 14.2% from the December 15th total of 4,730,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Empire State Realty Trust

In other Empire State Realty Trust news, EVP Thomas P. Durels sold 10,000 shares of Empire State Realty Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $101,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,750.70. This trade represents a 10.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 14.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Empire State Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 81.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,524 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 3,139.1% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 4,470 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 4,332 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,412 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 1,419 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $115,000. 67.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ESRT shares. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. StockNews.com upgraded Empire State Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th.

Empire State Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESRT traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 956,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 882,096. Empire State Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $8.78 and a fifty-two week high of $11.62. The company has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.72 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 3.72 and a quick ratio of 3.72. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.58.

Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $199.60 million during the quarter. Empire State Realty Trust had a return on equity of 2.73% and a net margin of 6.22%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Empire State Realty Trust will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Empire State Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.035 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Empire State Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 51.85%.

Empire State Realty Trust Company Profile

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.