Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Upgrades Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) to “Buy”

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $310.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price target of $308.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on ESS. Bank of America downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $305.53.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $285.19 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $292.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $292.05. Essex Property Trust has a 52 week low of $223.06 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The company has a market cap of $18.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.32, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.58 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $508,381,000 after purchasing an additional 25,591 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $392,766,000 after purchasing an additional 183,947 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 754,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $222,800,000 after purchasing an additional 47,114 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $212,583,000 after purchasing an additional 633,200 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 154.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $131,282,000 after purchasing an additional 269,923 shares during the period. 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.