Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Receives $305.42 Average PT from Brokerages

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $305.53.

A number of brokerages have commented on ESS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 target price for the company. 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. Finally, Mizuho dropped 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.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $277.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $291.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust has a 1 year low of $223.06 and a 1 year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 114.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 4.7% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% during the 4th 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 during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 0.3% during 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 during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.6% during the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

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.