Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Releases Q4 Earnings Guidance

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $3.82-$3.94 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.91. Essex Property Trust also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 15.500-15.620 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial increased 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. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.40.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded down $4.90 during trading on Friday, reaching $278.96. 148,826 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 378,032. The stock has a market cap of $17.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $298.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $279.01. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $204.64 and a 52-week high of $317.73. 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 (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The business had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at $775,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the business’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 transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,627.59. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock worth $6,399,663. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.