Essex Property Trust’s (ESS) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Piper Sandler

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by Piper Sandler in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $355.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their prior price target of $370.00. Piper Sandler’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 31.58% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $329.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $311.78.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $269.80 on Friday. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $243.85 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $283.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.83 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $1,988,843.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,192.66. The trade was a 42.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. This represents a 61.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 in the last 90 days. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,611,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $7,027,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,408,000 after buying an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vert Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 28,367 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,097,000 after buying an additional 2,366 shares in the last quarter. 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.