Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Shares Gap Down to $309.65

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $309.65, but opened at $302.00. Essex Property Trust shares last traded at $304.78, with a volume of 45,284 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ESS. Truist Financial upped 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 report on Tuesday, August 27th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.40.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market cap of $19.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $269.18.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). The company had revenue of $442.36 million for 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.77 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 EPS for the current 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 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 dividend yield of 3.25%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total value of $2,308,430.38. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total value of $2,308,430.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. 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 Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction 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. Insiders sold a total of 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663 in the last three months. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 214.3% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 600.0% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Vima LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 121.8% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.