Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) PT Raised to $308.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its target price boosted by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $240.00 to $308.00 in a report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Truist Financial upped their target price on 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, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $288.30.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock opened at $314.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $288.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $265.64. Essex Property Trust has a 12-month low of $203.85 and a 12-month high of $314.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $20.16 billion, a PE ratio of 38.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The firm had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.77 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.53 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,500. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESS. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 81,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,941,000 after buying an additional 2,083 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 225,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,093,000 after buying an additional 18,000 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 107.9% in the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 43,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,723,000 after buying an additional 22,736 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 62,067 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,389,000 after buying an additional 5,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $743,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.