Analysts Set Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Target Price at $306.63

Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $307.16.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ESS shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $294.95 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $18.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $289.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $294.60. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $230.90 and a one year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. Equities analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. This represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total value of $842,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at $527,904. This represents a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 162.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,109,000 after purchasing an additional 46,354 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,611,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $541,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.