Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) in a report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $318.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $269.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Raymond James increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $264.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $282.37.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $298.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust has a 52 week low of $203.85 and a 52 week high of $307.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $284.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $263.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). The firm had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.77 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust will post 15.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $4,425,519.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,118 shares in the company, valued at $4,425,519.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total value of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,233 shares of company stock worth $4,533,461 over the last 90 days. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 214.3% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 600.0% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Vima LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 121.8% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 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.