Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Receives $307.16 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $307.16.

ESS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 7.7 %

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $271.80 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $296.16 and a 200-day moving average of $294.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Essex Property Trust has a twelve month low of $230.90 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $1,988,843.22. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,724,192.66. This trade represents a 42.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,611,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $7,027,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth $541,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

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.