JMP Securities Reaffirms Market Perform Rating for Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS)

JMP Securities restated their market perform rating on shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on ESS. Raymond James downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho cut their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $306.53.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS traded down $1.34 on Thursday, hitting $290.80. 416,935 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 474,920. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $286.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $292.46. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $223.06 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.20, a PEG ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is 84.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $508,381,000 after purchasing an additional 25,591 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,494,298 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $426,532,000 after buying an additional 70,785 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 16.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $392,766,000 after buying an additional 183,947 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 772,883 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $220,612,000 after buying an additional 18,704 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 732.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $212,583,000 after acquiring an additional 633,200 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.