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

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $302.11.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James cut Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price objective for the company.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 600.0% during 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 period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 104.5% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:ESS opened at $286.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $223.06 and a one year high of $317.73. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $297.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio 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.