BNP Paribas Begins Coverage on Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS)

BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) in a research note published on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $333.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $268.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $288.30.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ESS opened at $314.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.39, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $288.60 and a 200 day moving average of $265.90. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $203.85 and a 1-year high of $314.31.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The firm had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.77 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.53 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,051,860.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $675,183,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 730,141 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 86.5% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 997,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,269,000 after purchasing an additional 462,828 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,881,000 after buying an additional 424,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at $98,594,000. 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.