Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Stock

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from $302.00 to $304.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on ESS. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.63.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $294.47 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $225.40 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $285.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.81.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 84.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $471,258,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $212,583,000 after buying an additional 633,200 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 56.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $321,928,000 after buying an additional 404,892 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth about $84,393,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 154.7% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $131,282,000 after buying an additional 269,923 shares during the period. 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.