Cantor Fitzgerald Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Stock Price

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its target price reduced by Cantor Fitzgerald from $316.00 to $305.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 11.95% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on ESS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $325.00 price objective on Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Citigroup raised Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Essex Property Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Mizuho cut shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $308.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.73.

Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $272.44 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $270.05. The company has a market cap of $17.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.62 and a beta of 0.69. Essex Property Trust has a fifty-two week low of $238.46 and a fifty-two week high of $303.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.01 by ($2.49). The business had revenue of $492.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $491.01 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 6.24%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 16.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Optas LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 15.5% during the third quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 54,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,708,000 after buying an additional 7,340 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.1% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 99,104 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,698,000 after buying an additional 3,878 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.2% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,445 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 18.3% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 422,081 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $113,762,000 after buying an additional 65,160 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Essex Property Trust