Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target Cut to $320.00 by Analysts at Scotiabank

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) had its price objective trimmed by Scotiabank from $344.00 to $320.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector outperform rating on the real estate investment trust's stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $355.00 target price (down previously from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho cut 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 report on Friday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $310.83.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 2.1%

Essex Property Trust stock traded down $6.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $283.61. 438,329 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 419,706. The company's 50-day moving average is $278.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $243.85 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $18.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.05. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%. The company had revenue of $464.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.03 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 98.37%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Certuity LLC bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $225,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 132,317 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $37,635,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,082,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by 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.