Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target Increased to $329.00 by Analysts at Scotiabank

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price target hoisted by Scotiabank from $309.00 to $329.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

ESS has been the subject of several other reports. BNP Paribas began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an outperform rating and a $333.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $291.10.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS opened at $315.15 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $20.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $203.85 and a 52-week high of $316.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. The business’s fifty day moving average is $289.45 and its 200-day moving average is $266.75.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were 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 owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $134,000. ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 5,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,410,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $675,183,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 256.0% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 2,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 236,140 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,549,000 after acquiring an additional 34,931 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

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.