Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twenty analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $293.40.

Several research firms have recently commented on ESS. Bank of America downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Raymond James cut shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $730,627.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,627.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $115,881,000 after buying an additional 424,157 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $98,594,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $84,393,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $448,701,000 after purchasing an additional 147,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 34.0% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 553,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,348,000 after purchasing an additional 140,294 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.3 %

ESS opened at $280.61 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $297.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $280.28. The company has a market cap of $18.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $204.64 and a 1-year high of $317.73.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The business had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 earned $3.78 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.49%.

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.