Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $299.0789.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $293.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. UBS Group set a $290.00 price objective on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.0%

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $290.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $238.46 and a 52-week high of $303.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $285.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $265.27. The firm has a market cap of $18.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.70.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by ($2.31). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.03% and a return on equity of 10.00%. The firm had revenue of $484.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $479.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.97 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 16.11 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $2.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total value of $167,670.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $669,003.30. The trade was a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 255,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $66,868,000 after acquiring an additional 6,422 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $230,690,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 160,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,901,000 after purchasing an additional 36,293 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 548,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $143,405,000 after purchasing an additional 31,261 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,679,607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $439,520,000 after purchasing an additional 301,349 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc (NYSE: ESS) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on market-rate apartment communities and delivers a full suite of property services including leasing, resident services, asset management, and capital improvement programs designed to preserve and enhance long‑term property values.

Essex concentrates its portfolio in West Coast markets, with a significant presence in California and the Pacific Northwest.