Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $245.37.

ESS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $237.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com cut Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $227.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $291.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, March 26th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 632.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,719,000 after purchasing an additional 12,954 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 201.1% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 534,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $132,639,000 after purchasing an additional 357,268 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $3,304,000. JLP Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $2,802,000. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 16.2% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $233.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.80. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $252.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 3.26 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $237.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.51.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.19%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is presently 155.31%.

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.