Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Rating Lowered to Neutral at Piper Sandler

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $275.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their previous price target of $355.00. Piper Sandler’s target price indicates a potential upside of 6.59% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on ESS. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $295.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.26.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.4%

ESS stock opened at $258.00 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $282.45 and a 200-day moving average of $285.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Essex Property Trust has a fifty-two week low of $243.85 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by $0.04. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The company had revenue of $465.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $466.47 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

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.