Essex Property Trust's (ESS) Market Perform Rating Reiterated at JMP Securities

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

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America cut Essex Property Trust from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James cut Essex Property Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $305.42.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock traded up $1.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $284.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 338,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 536,455. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company's fifty day moving average is $293.86 and its 200-day moving average is $291.65. The company has a market capitalization of $18.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust has a 1 year low of $223.06 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,041,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,461 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by 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.