Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target Raised to $309.00 at Scotiabank

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its target price lifted by Scotiabank from $290.00 to $309.00 in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $244.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $273.70.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $296.09 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $281.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $259.77. Essex Property Trust has a 52 week low of $203.85 and a 52 week high of $298.19. The stock has a market cap of $19.01 billion, a PE ratio of 36.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value 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 approximately $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value 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 approximately $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Naviter Wealth LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 3,702 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 26,190 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,494,000 after purchasing an additional 3,301 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $813,000. Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $230,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in 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 during the period. 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.