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

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $297.00.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective 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. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price objective for the company.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $310.46 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $297.12 and a 200-day moving average of $287.00. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $211.35 and a one year high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $19.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.27, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.88. 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 (NYSE:ESS) last released 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 business 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 prior year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essex Property Trust news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $730,627.59. The trade was a 52.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total transaction of $2,546,008.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. This represents a 45.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,949 shares of company stock worth $5,663,763. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $212,583,000 after buying an additional 633,200 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $115,881,000 after purchasing an additional 424,157 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $98,594,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $84,393,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 154.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $131,282,000 after buying an additional 269,923 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.