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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ESRT shares. 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 lifted their price target 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 Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESRT traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.65. The stock had a trading volume of 956,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 882,096. The company has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 35.72 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.58. 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 has a 1 year low of $8.78 and a 1 year high of $11.62.

Empire State Realty Trust (NYSE:ESRT) last released 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 company 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Empire State Realty Trust will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Empire State Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $0.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Empire State Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.85%.

Insider Activity at Empire State Realty Trust

In other news, EVP Thomas P. Durels sold 3,193 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.90, for a total transaction of $34,803.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 96,807 shares in the company, valued at $1,055,196.30. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 14.01% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Empire State Realty Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 45,771 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 8,346 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 39,636 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 12,553 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,349 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 2,668 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 727,158 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,482,000 after buying an additional 40,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Empire State Realty Trust by 6.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,615,985 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,905,000 after purchasing an additional 98,850 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.