Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Announces Dividend Increase - $2.57 Per Share

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 20th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 2.57 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45.

Essex Property Trust has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 30 years. Essex Property Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 159.1% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Essex Property Trust to earn $16.58 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $9.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 59.1%.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock traded up $3.17 on Thursday, hitting $294.37. 492,882 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 480,140. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $285.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $292.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Essex Property Trust has a 52 week low of $225.40 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The company has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 research analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ESS shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $306.63.

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.

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