Mizuho Lowers Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target to $300.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its target price dropped by equities researchers at Mizuho from $325.00 to $300.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective points to a potential upside of 10.89% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on ESS. Raymond James lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.17.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:ESS opened at $270.55 on Monday. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $223.06 and a one year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $17.39 billion, a PE ratio of 31.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $294.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.62.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake 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 worth $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,259 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 39.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 509 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 7.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 48,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,043,000 after purchasing an additional 3,316 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.