Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $311.78.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. This represents a 31.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,904. This trade represents a 61.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $269.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $17.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust has a fifty-two week low of $243.85 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $283.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.67.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.37%.

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.