Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $283.00 to $287.00. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock. Essex Property Trust traded as high as $315.58 and last traded at $312.27, with a volume of 6839 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $314.05.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on ESS. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $290.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares in the company, valued at $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESS. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.4% in the second quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 8,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 11,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,765,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $288.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.16. The stock has a market cap of $20.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The business had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.77 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 119.80%.

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.