Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Director Amal M. Johnson Sells 7,298 Shares

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total value of $2,308,430.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,661.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:ESS opened at $312.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $291.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $267.92. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). The firm had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.77 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ESS shares. Wedbush boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.10.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 214.3% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 600.0% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Vima LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 121.8% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 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.