Analysts Set Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Target Price at $288.30

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $291.10.

Several research firms recently commented on ESS. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. 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 report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price target for the company.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of ESS opened at $306.21 on Monday. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $203.85 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $292.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.35. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.43, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). The firm had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.53 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 119.80%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’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 transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total value of $2,546,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663 over the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 214.3% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 600.0% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Vima LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 121.8% during the 2nd 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 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.