Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $243.74.

ESS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $291.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho raised Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $227.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $276.00 to $259.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.4 %

ESS stock opened at $244.81 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $236.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.46. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $201.66 and a 52-week high of $252.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 3.26 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.79.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 155.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth $675,183,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 112.4% during the second quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,175,976 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $509,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,338 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in 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 valued at $1,419,056,000 after acquiring an additional 874,625 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 213.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 888,858 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $188,367,000 after purchasing an additional 604,863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 201.1% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 534,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $132,639,000 after purchasing an additional 357,268 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

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.