Stifel Nicolaus Raises Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target to $267.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price target upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $243.50 to $267.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Bank of America upgraded Essex Property Trust from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler restated an overweight rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, June 28th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $255.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $244.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $261.05.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE:ESS opened at $278.41 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $203.85 and a 12 month high of $284.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $267.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $249.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $17.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.86.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,895.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,895.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $675,183,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $761,760,000 after buying an additional 730,141 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 86.5% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 997,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $244,269,000 after buying an additional 462,828 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 119.3% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 412,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $102,602,000 after buying an additional 224,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5,069.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 208,651 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,253,000 after buying an additional 204,615 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.