Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $2.04 EPS

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04), Zacks reports. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock traded down $6.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $277.48. The company had a trading volume of 295,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 378,724. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $298.24 and a 200 day moving average of $279.01. Essex Property Trust has a fifty-two week low of $204.64 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at $730,627.59. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at $730,627.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total value of $2,308,430.38. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,661.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.