Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $258.63.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $239.50 to $243.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $250.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, April 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $255.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $761,760,000 after buying an additional 730,141 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth $675,183,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $448,701,000 after purchasing an additional 147,130 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 86.5% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 997,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $244,269,000 after purchasing an additional 462,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 828,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $175,651,000 after purchasing an additional 71,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock opened at $273.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $263.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $247.81. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $203.85 and a 52-week high of $284.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.37, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a current ratio of 3.19.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 119.80%.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.