Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Receives $293.40 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $293.40.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. 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 note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total value of $2,546,008.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,991,559.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Vima LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 314,833 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $78,060,000 after purchasing an additional 106,182 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 582.4% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 11,389 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,824,000 after purchasing an additional 9,720 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund DSM Netherlands increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Pensionfund DSM Netherlands now owns 14,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,475,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $288.08 on Friday. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $203.85 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.50 billion, a PE ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $294.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $274.25. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 business earned $3.77 EPS. Analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust will post 15.55 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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.