Essex Property Trust’s (ESS) Market Perform Rating Reaffirmed at JMP Securities

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating restated by equities researchers at JMP Securities in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

ESS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.32.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS stock traded up $0.58 on Thursday, reaching $296.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 70,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 457,723. Essex Property Trust has a 52 week low of $223.06 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $19.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.60 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $287.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $292.36.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. As a group, analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 4.7% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,041,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.