Barclays Boosts Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target to $226.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS – Get Rating) had its price target raised by Barclays from $219.00 to $226.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, The Fly reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $233.00 in a report on Monday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $288.00 to $242.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 2nd. Raymond James cut shares of Essex Property Trust from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 23rd. Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $241.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 14th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $240.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $255.90.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of ESS stock opened at $232.18 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust has a 12-month low of $205.24 and a 12-month high of $363.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $223.46 and its 200 day moving average is $231.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.74.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 31st will be issued a $2.31 dividend. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.20. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 140.13%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 120 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. US Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 91.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Essex Property Trust

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Essex Property Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust. It engages in the ownership, operation, management, acquisition, development, and redevelopment of predominantly apartment communities. The company was founded by George M. Marcus in 1971 and is headquartered in San Mateo, CA.