Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The real estate investment trust reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.05, Zacks reports. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.05% and a net margin of 41.79%.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of ESS traded down $2.44 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $275.13. The stock had a trading volume of 429,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 400,862. The business's fifty day moving average is $289.82 and its 200 day moving average is $291.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $17.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $240.58 and a 52-week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $2.57 per share. This represents a $10.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is presently 89.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 7,298 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $2,298,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,077,170. This trade represents a 31.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last 90 days. 3.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.11.

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.

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