Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Downgraded to “Neutral” at Bank of America

Bank of America downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $321.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price target of $307.00.

ESS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $293.40.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:ESS opened at $294.64 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $293.76 and a 200 day moving average of $269.93. Essex Property Trust has a 52 week low of $203.85 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The firm had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.77 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.80%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Essex Property Trust news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,627.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663. 3.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $761,760,000 after acquiring an additional 730,141 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $448,701,000 after purchasing an additional 147,130 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,145,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $311,824,000 after purchasing an additional 27,570 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,001,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $272,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 941,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $256,280,000 after purchasing an additional 12,822 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.