Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Empire State Realty Trust Put Options (NYSE:ESRT)

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESRT – Get Rating) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 16,628 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 6,976% compared to the average volume of 235 put options.

Empire State Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE:ESRT opened at $6.63 on Friday. Empire State Realty Trust has a one year low of $6.24 and a one year high of $10.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 7.17 and a current ratio of 7.17. The stock has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 30.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $7.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.24.

Empire State Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a $0.035 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $0.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Empire State Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Empire State Realty Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in Empire State Realty Trust by 113.3% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 5,069 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 2,692 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Empire State Realty Trust during the third quarter worth $44,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in Empire State Realty Trust by 203.4% during the third quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 7,115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 4,770 shares during the last quarter. Group One Trading L.P. acquired a new stake in Empire State Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Empire State Realty Trust during the second quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised Empire State Realty Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $9.25 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on Empire State Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Empire State Realty Trust from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Empire State Realty Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $9.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Empire State Realty Trust from $7.25 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Empire State Realty Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.35.

Empire State Realty Trust Company Profile

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Empire State Realty Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in owning, managing, acquiring, and repositioning office and retail properties. It operates through the Real Estate and Observatory segments. The Real Estate segment includes ownership, management, operation, acquisition, repositioning, and disposition of real estate assets.