Stifel Nicolaus Increases Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target to $267.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its target price lifted by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $243.50 to $267.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price indicates a potential downside of 3.39% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on ESS. Raymond James upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $255.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Friday, June 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $261.05.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $276.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $267.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $249.19. The company has a quick ratio of 3.19, a current ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $203.85 and a 52-week high of $284.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total transaction of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total transaction of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,425,519.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 13,084 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,775,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 9.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 828,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $175,651,000 after purchasing an additional 71,359 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5,069.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 208,651 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,253,000 after purchasing an additional 204,615 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.5% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 118,104 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 920 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently 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.