Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target Increased to $287.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price objective increased by Evercore ISI from $283.00 to $287.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Raymond James raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a neutral rating and a $318.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an outperform rating and a $333.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $291.10.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $315.15 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $289.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $266.75. Essex Property Trust has a 12-month low of $203.85 and a 12-month high of $316.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $20.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.53, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.53 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 value of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $134,000. ING Groep NV lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 5,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,410,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $675,183,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 256.0% in the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 2,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 236,140 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,549,000 after purchasing an additional 34,931 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

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.