Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Upgraded at BMO Capital Markets

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) was upgraded by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $310.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their prior price target of $323.00. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.62% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 report on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.42.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $272.83 on Monday. Essex Property Trust has a 1 year low of $223.06 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business’s 50-day moving average is $294.15 and its 200-day moving average is $291.56. The company has a market capitalization of $17.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.92.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). The business had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 104.5% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1,247.2% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 485 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.