Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Earns “Overweight” Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $315.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $232.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $239.50 to $243.50 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America raised Essex Property Trust from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the company from $250.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $258.63.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.3 %

ESS stock opened at $273.00 on Friday. Essex Property Trust has a twelve month low of $203.85 and a twelve month high of $284.77. The company has a quick ratio of 3.19, a current ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $17.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.35, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $262.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $247.63.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,425,519.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth $675,183,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $761,760,000 after buying an additional 730,141 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 86.5% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 997,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,269,000 after buying an additional 462,828 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 119.3% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 412,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $102,602,000 after buying an additional 224,554 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5,069.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 208,651 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,253,000 after buying an additional 204,615 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.