Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Lowered to Neutral at Bank of America

Bank of America cut shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Bank of America currently has $321.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous target price of $307.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an outperform rating and a $333.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $293.40.

Essex Property Trust Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $300.23 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust has a twelve month low of $203.85 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company’s 50 day moving average is $293.29 and its 200 day moving average is $269.57. The company has a market cap of $19.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The firm had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.77 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.53 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.80%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at $730,627.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,627.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663 over the last ninety days. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 214.3% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 600.0% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 121.8% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.