Essex Property Trust (ESS) – Research Analysts’ Recent Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently updated their ratings and price targets for Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS):

• 4/9/2024 – Essex Property Trust had its price target lowered by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $259.00 to $255.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 4/5/2024 – Essex Property Trust was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating.
• 4/1/2024 – Essex Property Trust was upgraded by analysts at Bank of America Co. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a $275.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $250.00.
• 3/28/2024 – Essex Property Trust had its price target lowered by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $276.00 to $259.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 3/26/2024 – Essex Property Trust had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Piper Sandler. They now have a $291.00 price target on the stock.
• 3/18/2024 – Essex Property Trust was upgraded by analysts at Raymond James from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating. They now have a $265.00 price target on the stock.
• 2/28/2024 – Essex Property Trust was upgraded by analysts at Mizuho from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a $250.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $255.00.
• 2/27/2024 – Essex Property Trust was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating.
• 2/26/2024 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $227.00 to $230.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 2/22/2024 – Essex Property Trust had its “sell” rating reaffirmed by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.. They now have a $227.00 price target on the stock.
• 2/20/2024 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $224.00 to $225.00. They now have an “underweight” rating on the stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $244.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $236.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.64. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $203.85 and a 1 year high of $252.85.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a $2.45 dividend. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is currently 155.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 55.7% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 11,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,765,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth $173,000. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 6,750 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,652,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.