Scotiabank Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Stock Price

Key Points

• Scotiabank has lowered its price target for Essex Property Trust from $320.00 to $309.00, indicating a potential upside of 19.46% from the current stock price.
• Essex Property Trust's stock is currently rated as a "Hold" with a consensus average price target of $307.86 from various brokerages.
• Recently, Essex Property Trust reported earnings of $4.03 per share, slightly above analysts' estimates, with a net margin of 43.51% for the latest quarter.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by analysts at Scotiabank from $320.00 to $309.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, August 5th, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a "sector outperform" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Scotiabank's target price indicates a potential upside of 21.26% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $295.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $303.91.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.3%

Essex Property Trust stock traded up $0.83 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $254.82. The company had a trading volume of 13,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 491,043. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $243.85 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $279.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $284.62. The stock has a market cap of $16.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 0.80.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $466.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.94 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 300.0% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. 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.