Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Receives $306.53 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $306.53.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ESS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE ESS opened at $288.09 on Thursday. Essex Property Trust has a twelve month low of $225.40 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $18.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $285.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $292.55.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 84.92%.

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.