JMP Securities Reiterates Market Perform Rating for Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS)

JMP Securities reiterated their market perform rating on shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on ESS. Barclays started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $316.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.42.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS stock opened at $283.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust has a 1 year low of $223.06 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The firm has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $293.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $291.67.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). The business had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 114.49%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 237.7% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 941,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $256,280,000 after acquiring an additional 12,822 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $443,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $796,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.