Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target Lowered to $300.00 at Mizuho

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price target trimmed by Mizuho from $325.00 to $300.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on ESS. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.17.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.9 %

ESS stock opened at $272.60 on Monday. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $223.06 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $17.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $294.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $291.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. Analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.57 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.6% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 21,962 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,978,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 24.4% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 17,642 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,813,000 after buying an additional 3,455 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 56,595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,405,000 after acquiring an additional 10,889 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,113,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $967,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

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.