Piper Sandler Raises Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target to $315.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price objective boosted by Piper Sandler from $291.00 to $315.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a hold rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Wedbush restated a neutral rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a sell rating and set a $227.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $249.76.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of ESS traded up $2.24 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $257.73. 6,651 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 400,756. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.79. Essex Property Trust has a 1 year low of $203.85 and a 1 year high of $257.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $240.93 and its 200-day moving average is $233.28.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 25.7% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,834 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,194 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 182.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 42,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,359,000 after buying an additional 27,313 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $201,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 17.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 15,117 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,701,000 after buying an additional 2,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 30,700.0% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.