Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Upgraded to "Buy" at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $275.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust's stock, up from their prior price objective of $250.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on ESS. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $291.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a sell rating and issued a $227.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $276.00 to $259.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $245.30.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS traded down $5.31 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $239.50. 293,023 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 417,225. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.80. Essex Property Trust has a twelve month low of $203.85 and a twelve month high of $252.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $236.17 and a 200 day moving average of $228.66. The company has a current ratio of 3.26, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is presently 155.31%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,614,782 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,667,195,000 after buying an additional 184,047 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,712,755 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,419,056,000 after purchasing an additional 874,625 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $761,760,000 after purchasing an additional 730,141 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth $675,183,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,685,715 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $417,959,000 after purchasing an additional 162,809 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by 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.