Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target Lowered to $309.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price target reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $311.00 to $309.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

ESS has been the topic of several other research reports. Truist Financial upped their price target 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. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho cut their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.79.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $292.85 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $288.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.38, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $243.85 and a 1-year high of $317.73.

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

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $5,077,170. The trade was a 31.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Company insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $471,258,000. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth $384,606,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 35,500.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 448,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $137,406,000 after purchasing an additional 446,946 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,127,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $321,928,000 after purchasing an additional 404,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 570,786 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $162,925,000 after buying an additional 222,713 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.