Barclays Cuts Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target to $302.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price target trimmed by Barclays from $316.00 to $302.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James lowered Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.32.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $277.43 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.83 billion, a PE ratio of 32.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $223.06 and a one year high of $317.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $290.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). The firm had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 114.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 4.7% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,041,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.