Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Receives $305.42 Consensus PT from Analysts

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $305.53.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 104.5% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $89,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock opened at $277.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.84 billion, a PE ratio of 32.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $291.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.06. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $223.06 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The firm had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 114.49%.

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.