Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $2.04 EPS

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04), Zacks reports. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The firm had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 EPS.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of ESS traded down $5.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $278.60. The stock had a trading volume of 305,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 378,772. Essex Property Trust has a 12-month low of $204.64 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $279.01.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,627.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total value of $2,308,430.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,661.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,627.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.40.

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.