Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Given New $302.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price target raised by Evercore ISI from $297.00 to $302.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on ESS. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Raymond James downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $306.53.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $290.53 on Monday. Essex Property Trust has a twelve month low of $223.06 and a twelve month 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 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $18.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $286.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $292.55.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $384,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 311.3% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1,247.2% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 485 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

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.