Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $309.00 to $329.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Essex Property Trust traded as high as $315.58 and last traded at $312.27, with a volume of 6839 shares. The stock had previously closed at $314.05.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,641,895.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. M&R Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.4% in the second quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Quilter Plc boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 0.6% during the second quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 8,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 11,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,765,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $289.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $266.75. The company has a market capitalization of $20.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). The business had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.77 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

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.