Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Essex Property Trust has been upgraded from a "sell" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• Multiple brokerages have recently issued ratings on Essex Property Trust, with the stock receiving a mix of "outperform" and "neutral" ratings, while the average target price is approximately $312.92.
• The company reported $4.03 EPS for the last quarter, slightly exceeding analyst expectations, alongside a revenue of $465.84 million.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on 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. Raymond James Financial raised Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $355.00 target price (down from $370.00) on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.86.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS traded up $3.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $257.93. The company had a trading volume of 237,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 489,332. 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 stock has a market cap of $16.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $282.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $285.72. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $243.85 and a 1-year high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $466.47 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 43.51%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $653,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 10.0% during the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 883 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth approximately $705,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 133,886 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $41,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth approximately $569,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.