Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52, Zacks reports. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ESS traded up $3.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $287.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 530,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 460,866. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.60 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $288.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $292.31. Essex Property Trust has a 1 year low of $223.06 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.32.

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.