Wedbush Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS)

Wedbush reissued their neutral rating on shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $240.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

ESS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $259.00 to $255.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a sell rating and issued a $227.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $247.24.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $245.25 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.26, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.80. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $203.85 and a 12 month high of $252.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $239.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $232.44.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 155.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $761,760,000 after acquiring an additional 730,141 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $675,183,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 978,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $207,560,000 after purchasing an additional 55,903 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 9.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 828,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $175,651,000 after purchasing an additional 71,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 13.0% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 776,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $164,233,000 after purchasing an additional 89,198 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.