Evercore ISI Raises Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target to $283.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price objective raised by Evercore ISI from $268.00 to $283.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an in-line rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

ESS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $276.70.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock opened at $301.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a current ratio of 1.62. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $281.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $260.04. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $302.05. The company has a market capitalization of $19.38 billion, a PE ratio of 36.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.86.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 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 the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of Essex Property Trust 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total transaction of $2,745,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $19,941,000 after purchasing an additional 2,083 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 49,277 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,218,000 after buying an additional 4,943 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake 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 valued at $55,093,000 after buying an additional 18,000 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 107.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,887 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.