Analysts Set Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Price Target at $306.63

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $307.16.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ESS. Mizuho cut their target price on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $1,988,843.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,724,192.66. This represents a 42.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,545 shares of company stock valued at $5,840,299 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 355.4% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 3,197 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,495 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $33,992,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 112.4% in the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 41,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,703,000 after purchasing an additional 21,700 shares during the period. Yoffe Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $358,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE ESS opened at $292.78 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.64. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $230.90 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.37, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. On average, analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

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.