Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on the stock from $240.00 to $308.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a hold rating on the stock. Essex Property Trust traded as high as $308.01 and last traded at $307.72, with a volume of 123791 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $300.05.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $288.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust 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 in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,233 shares of company stock worth $4,533,461 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $134,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,884 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,194,000 after buying an additional 1,709 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 129,783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,504,000 after buying an additional 3,993 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 95.4% in the 4th quarter. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $5,223,000 after acquiring an additional 7,638 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.1 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $286.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $264.71. 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 capitalization of $19.77 billion, a PE ratio of 37.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.