Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Now Covered by Analysts at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $333.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

ESS has been the topic of several other reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $268.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $288.30.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS stock opened at $307.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $286.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $264.71. Essex Property Trust has a 52 week low of $203.85 and a 52 week high of $308.60. The stock has a market cap of $19.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.77 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 119.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of Essex Property Trust 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 sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,233 shares of company stock valued at $4,533,461. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $134,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,884 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 129,783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,993 shares during the period. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 95.4% during the fourth quarter. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 56.9% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 21,066 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,223,000 after purchasing an additional 7,638 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.