Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Given Market Perform Rating at JMP Securities

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at JMP Securities in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $297.00 to $303.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays decreased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James lowered Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.74.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $291.91 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $287.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $292.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.60 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust has a fifty-two week low of $223.06 and a fifty-two week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

About Essex Property Trust

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.