Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) PT Raised to $315.00 at Piper Sandler

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price target increased by Piper Sandler from $291.00 to $315.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on ESS. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $239.50 to $243.50 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Essex Property Trust from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a hold rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Raymond James upgraded Essex Property Trust from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Essex Property Trust from $237.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $249.76.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 1.2 %

ESS stock opened at $254.50 on Monday. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $203.85 and a 1-year high of $258.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 3.19 and a quick ratio of 3.19. The company has a market capitalization of $16.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.11, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.61.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.80%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter worth $675,183,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $761,760,000 after purchasing an additional 730,141 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 86.5% in the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 997,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,269,000 after purchasing an additional 462,828 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 119.3% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 412,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $102,602,000 after purchasing an additional 224,554 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5,069.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 208,651 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,253,000 after buying an additional 204,615 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

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.