Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Stock Rating Lowered by Bank of America

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $321.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior target price of $307.00. Bank of America‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 7.89% from the stock’s previous close.

ESS has been the topic of several other research reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wedbush boosted their target price 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. UBS Group increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.40.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 0.9 %

ESS opened at $297.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.88. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $293.29 and its 200 day moving average is $269.57. Essex Property Trust has a fifty-two week low of $203.85 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 9.14% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.77 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were 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 directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $809,325.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at $730,627.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its position in 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 valued at $761,760,000 after purchasing an additional 730,141 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $244,269,000 after buying an additional 462,828 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 27,120.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 425,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $115,881,000 after buying an additional 424,157 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $98,594,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,832,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $448,701,000 after acquiring an additional 147,130 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently 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.