Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Receives $293.40 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $293.40.

ESS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wedbush upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $730,627.59. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663 over the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 214.3% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 600.0% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Vima LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock opened at $292.62 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $295.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $274.91. Essex Property Trust has a 12-month low of $203.85 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $18.79 billion, a PE ratio of 35.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.77 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.55 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

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.