Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target Increased to $329.00 by Analysts at Scotiabank

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price objective raised by Scotiabank from $309.00 to $329.00 in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a neutral rating and a $318.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an outperform rating and a $333.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $291.10.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $315.15 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $289.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $203.85 and a 12 month high of $316.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). The firm had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.77 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.53 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 119.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 8,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 11,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,765,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 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.