Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $298.27

Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $298.27.

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Citigroup raised Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Essex Property Trust from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 523.1% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 162 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 265 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $265.72 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Essex Property Trust has a 1 year low of $238.46 and a 1 year high of $303.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.30, a PEG ratio of 7.74 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $274.02 and its 200-day moving average is $269.75.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.01 by ($2.49). The firm had revenue of $492.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $491.01 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 6.24%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.97 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust will post 16.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a $2.59 dividend. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 192.21%.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust that owns, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily apartment communities. The company focuses on providing rental housing in high-demand markets and generates revenue primarily from apartment rents and related resident services.

Founded in 1971 and headquartered in San Mateo, California, Essex operates primarily in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Seattle metropolitan area.