Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target Increased to $260.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its target price upped by Evercore ISI from $254.00 to $260.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on ESS. Scotiabank raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Essex Property Trust from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $232.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $261.05.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.5 %

ESS stock opened at $274.33 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.19, a current ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $268.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $249.60. The company has a market cap of $17.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.86. Essex Property Trust has a twelve month low of $203.85 and a twelve month high of $284.77.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $761,760,000 after buying an additional 730,141 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth $675,183,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 8.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 147,130 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 86.5% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 997,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,269,000 after acquiring an additional 462,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 828,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $175,651,000 after acquiring an additional 71,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.