Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $333.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a neutral rating and a $318.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $288.30.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $314.05 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $203.85 and a 52-week high of $314.31. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $288.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $265.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). The company had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.77 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. 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, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related 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 value of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,641,895.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 81,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,941,000 after acquiring an additional 2,083 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 225,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,093,000 after acquiring an additional 18,000 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 107.9% during the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 43,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,723,000 after acquiring an additional 22,736 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 62,067 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,389,000 after purchasing an additional 5,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the second quarter valued at $743,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.