Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Rating Lowered to Market Perform at Raymond James

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) was downgraded by equities researchers at Raymond James from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat reports.

ESS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.40.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $293.40 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.87, a PEG ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $296.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $276.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The business had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.77 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total value of $2,308,430.38. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $817,661.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 55.7% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the period. Hazelview Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $13,513,000. Vert Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.5% during the first quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 26,669 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 116.6% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,060 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,926 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

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.