Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Given New $293.00 Price Target at Mizuho

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) had its target price trimmed by Mizuho from $314.00 to $293.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust's stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on ESS. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $311.78.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS traded up $0.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $270.30. 9,464 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 405,813. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $243.85 and a one year high of $317.73. The stock's fifty day moving average is $282.42 and its 200 day moving average is $289.35. The firm has a market cap of $17.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $464.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $458.03 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 98.37%.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total transaction of $1,552,585.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,345 shares of company stock worth $6,682,539. 3.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 154,194 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $45,550,000 after acquiring an additional 15,087 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,173 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 538 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,469 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,559,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

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.