Royal Bank of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Stock Price

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its target price upped by Royal Bank of Canada from $302.00 to $315.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

ESS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $305.74.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $297.55 on Thursday. 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 1 year low of $223.06 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $287.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.36. The firm has a market cap of $19.12 billion, a PE ratio of 34.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.60 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. Equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.