Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Given New $325.00 Price Target at Raymond James

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price objective boosted by Raymond James from $295.00 to $325.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on ESS. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $268.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $244.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $276.70.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS opened at $298.05 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $281.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $259.77. Essex Property Trust has a 12-month low of $203.85 and a 12-month high of $299.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.44, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.86.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.77 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

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

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $675,183,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $115,881,000 after buying an additional 424,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $98,594,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.