Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $310.28.

ESS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $355.00 price objective (down from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $286.54. 528,926 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 426,074. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a PE ratio of 27.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 0.78. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $283.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $285.70. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $243.85 and a 52-week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 37.08% and a return on equity of 11.81%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 124.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 224 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth about $653,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 883 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth about $705,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $7,027,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.