Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Receives $302.11 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

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

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of ESS opened at $284.43 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust has a twelve month low of $223.06 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $18.28 billion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $297.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.32.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The firm 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 prior year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust will post 15.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 114.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 121.8% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the second quarter valued at $66,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

About Essex Property Trust

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.