Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target Lowered to $300.00 at Mizuho

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price objective cut by Mizuho from $325.00 to $300.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on ESS. Barclays assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $305.17.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $272.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $17.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $295.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $291.68. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $223.06 and a 1-year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The firm had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.56 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $212,583,000 after purchasing an additional 633,200 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,881,000 after acquiring an additional 424,157 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $98,594,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth approximately $84,393,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 154.7% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $131,282,000 after acquiring an additional 269,923 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

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.