Morgan Stanley Lowers Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target to $285.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its target price dropped by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $304.00 to $285.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 11.18% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on ESS. Piper Sandler downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, August 4th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial set a $283.00 price objective on Essex Property Trust and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.86.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of ESS stock opened at $256.33 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust has a 1 year low of $243.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $278.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $284.26. The company has a market cap of $16.51 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.80.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 43.51%. The firm had revenue of $465.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $466.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.94 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 300.0% during the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. 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.