Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Receives $306.53 Average Target Price from Analysts

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $306.53.

ESS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $288.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $18.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $225.40 and a one year high of $317.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $285.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 84.92%.

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.