Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) PT Raised to $314.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $269.00 to $314.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price points to a potential upside of 6.27% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wedbush increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $244.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Mizuho increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $255.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $272.55.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $295.48 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $18.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $281.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 3.19. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $203.85 and a 12 month high of $298.19.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.77 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,895.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total transaction of $2,745,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,425,519.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $675,183,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $761,760,000 after buying an additional 730,141 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 86.5% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 997,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,269,000 after buying an additional 462,828 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,881,000 after buying an additional 424,157 shares during the period. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $98,594,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

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.