Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the nineteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $302.11.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Raymond James downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock opened at $286.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $297.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.14. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $223.06 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $18.43 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS 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 firm earned $3.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.56 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESS. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 600.0% in 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 during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased 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 period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 121.8% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter worth approximately $66,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.