Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $2.04 EPS

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04), Zacks reports. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.78 EPS.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock traded down $5.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $278.60. 305,712 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 378,772. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $298.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $279.01. Essex Property Trust has a twelve month low of $204.64 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The stock has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total transaction of $2,308,430.38. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $817,661.35. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total transaction of $2,308,430.38. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total value of $2,546,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,991,559.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663 over the last ninety days. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James cut shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.40.

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.