Barclays Initiates Coverage on Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS)

Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $316.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on ESS. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.11.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS opened at $279.01 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $17.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $290.52. Essex Property Trust has a 12-month low of $223.06 and a 12-month high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. Research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 121.8% in the 2nd 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 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.