Centersquare Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESRT)

Centersquare Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESRT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 44,613 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $460,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Empire State Realty Trust by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,844,999 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $204,800,000 after buying an additional 461,421 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in Empire State Realty Trust by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,720,315 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $38,394,000 after purchasing an additional 90,758 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,419,970 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $35,302,000 after purchasing an additional 13,045 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,709,524 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $17,642,000 after buying an additional 93,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,596,894 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $16,480,000 after buying an additional 227,953 shares during the period. 67.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ESRT. Wolfe Research upgraded Empire State Realty Trust from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $10.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com raised Empire State Realty Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Thomas P. Durels sold 5,779 shares of Empire State Realty Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total transaction of $46,405.37. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at $449,904.84. The trade was a 9.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 30,122 shares of company stock valued at $242,761. 13.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Empire State Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE ESRT traded down $0.12 on Wednesday, hitting $6.67. 290,296 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,184,982. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $8.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.87. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.80 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 3.72, a quick ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.56 and a 1-year high of $11.62.

Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $155.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $192.62 million. Empire State Realty Trust had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 2.84%. On average, equities analysts predict that Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. will post 0.88 EPS for the current year.

Empire State Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.035 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Empire State Realty Trust's payout ratio is 50.00%.

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.