Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Stock Price

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada has raised the price target for Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.03% based on the previous close.
• Despite the positive outlook from Royal Bank, Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a "hold" to a "sell," while Mizuho and BMO Capital Markets also adjusted their price targets.
• Essex Property Trust's stock closed at $262.33, with an earnings report showing a profit of $4.03 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada from $306.00 to $307.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 19.66% from the stock's current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on ESS. Mizuho lowered their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $303.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $312.92.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS traded down $3.62 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $256.56. 830,760 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 522,891. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Essex Property Trust has a 12-month low of $243.85 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $283.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $285.89.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The company had revenue of $465.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.