Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Lifted to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $291.00 target price on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $281.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $259.00 to $255.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $247.24.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $250.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $16.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $239.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $232.56. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $203.85 and a 52-week high of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 3.19 and a quick ratio of 3.26.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.80%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $675,183,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 31.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 730,141 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 86.5% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 997,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $244,269,000 after acquiring an additional 462,828 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $102,602,000 after acquiring an additional 224,554 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 5,069.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 208,651 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,253,000 after purchasing an additional 204,615 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.