Wells Fargo & Company Increases Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target to $269.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price objective raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $232.00 to $269.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $291.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Bank of America raised Essex Property Trust from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $257.33.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of ESS opened at $260.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a current ratio of 3.19. The company has a market cap of $16.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $249.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $240.24. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $203.85 and a 52-week high of $269.23.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 119.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 744,175 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $182,185,000 after acquiring an additional 23,673 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,299,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 326.3% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 147,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,199,000 after purchasing an additional 113,178 shares during the period. Kinloch Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 25.1% during the first quarter. Kinloch Capital LLC now owns 15,886 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,889,000 after purchasing an additional 3,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LP bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth $532,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.