JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target to $297.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price objective lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $265.00 to $297.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on ESS. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an outperform rating and a $333.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $291.10.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of ESS opened at $312.00 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Essex Property Trust has a 12-month low of $203.85 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $290.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced 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 net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The firm had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.77 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust will post 15.53 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total transaction of $2,546,008.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,559.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total transaction of $2,546,008.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,559.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,884 shares of company stock valued at $5,143,094. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 81,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,941,000 after acquiring an additional 2,083 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 225,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,093,000 after buying an additional 18,000 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 107.9% in the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 43,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,723,000 after buying an additional 22,736 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 62,067 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,389,000 after buying an additional 5,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $743,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.