Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Earns “Overweight” Rating from Piper Sandler

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by stock analysts at Piper Sandler in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $315.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 16.61% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on ESS. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Raymond James raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. StockNews.com raised Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $258.63.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:ESS traded down $3.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $270.12. 124,000 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 379,059. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $17.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.84. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $203.85 and a 12 month high of $284.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $261.20 and a 200 day moving average of $246.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,425,519.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total transaction of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 632.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,719,000 after buying an additional 12,954 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 201.1% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 534,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $132,639,000 after purchasing an additional 357,268 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 49,277 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,218,000 after purchasing an additional 4,943 shares in the last quarter. JLP Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $2,802,000. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,304,000. 96.51% of the stock is 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.