Analysts Set Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Price Target at $308.26

Key Points

• Essex Property Trust, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from 18 brokerages, with 1 sell rating, 10 hold ratings, and 7 buy ratings, and an average price target of $308.26.
• The company's stock opened at $254.75 and has a 12-month low of $243.85 and a high of $317.73, with a market cap of $16.41 billion.
• Essex Property Trust announced a quarterly dividend of $2.57 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $10.28 and a yield of 4.0%.

Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eighteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $308.2647.

ESS has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial raised Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $309.00 price objective on Essex Property Trust and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE:ESS traded down $2.55 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $254.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 367,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 635,696. The business's 50-day moving average is $280.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $284.96. The company has a market capitalization of $16.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $466.47 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 43.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $2.57 dividend. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,440,274 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,200,675,000 after buying an additional 87,117 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 151,452.8% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,978,012 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $843,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,976,047 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 66.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,746,242 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $841,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,619 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,825,007 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $515,226,000 after acquiring an additional 23,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthquest Corp acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $384,606,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.