Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Receives $293.40 Average Price Target from Analysts

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $293.40.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $318.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st.

Insider Activity

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the company'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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total value of $2,308,430.38. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,661.35. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $775,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 214.3% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 600.0% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 121.8% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS traded up $10.39 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $291.00. 363,909 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 379,461. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $297.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $280.28. Essex Property Trust has a 1 year low of $204.64 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $18.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.71, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.49%.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

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.