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

Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $245.37.

ESS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $227.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $291.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $225.00 to $223.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $237.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $761,760,000 after purchasing an additional 730,141 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $675,183,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 978,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $207,560,000 after buying an additional 55,903 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 828,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $175,651,000 after buying an additional 71,359 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 13.0% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 776,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $164,233,000 after acquiring an additional 89,198 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of ESS opened at $247.21 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $238.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.60. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $252.85. The company has a market capitalization of $15.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.18, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 3.26 and a quick ratio of 3.26.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 155.31%.

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.