StockNews.com Downgrades Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

ESS has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the company from $250.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the company from $215.00 to $281.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $237.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $225.00 to $223.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $245.37.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock opened at $235.57 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $237.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.32. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $203.85 and a 52-week high of $252.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.33, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.26.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given 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 was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 155.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $3,667,195,000 after acquiring an additional 184,047 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 15.0% during 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 during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $761,760,000 after acquiring an additional 730,141 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $675,183,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,685,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $417,959,000 after buying an additional 162,809 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.