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

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESRT) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in 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. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Thomas P. Durels sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,807 shares in the company, valued at $876,750.70. This represents a 10.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 14.01% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Empire State Realty Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 3.5% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 251,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,355,000 after purchasing an additional 8,406 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Empire State Realty Trust by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 343,637 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 142.5% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 255,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,396,000 after acquiring an additional 150,100 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Empire State Realty Trust in the second quarter worth $137,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 19.6% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 115,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 18,930 shares during the last quarter. 67.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Empire State Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Empire State Realty Trust from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

Empire State Realty Trust Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Empire State Realty Trust stock traded up $0.05 during 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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.57. Empire State Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $8.78 and a 1-year high of $11.62. The company has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.72 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 3.72, a current ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

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

Empire State Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

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

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.